Litany of failure

The first English and Australian victims who exposed Waddington's offending in the media in 2013 have both asked for Archbishop Hope to be deposed from Holy Orders and to be removed from the House of Lords.

But a spokesman for the House of Lords Standards Commissioner, Owen Williams, said primary legislation would be required to remove a peerage.

"Once a peerage has been conferred it cannot be removed except by primary legislation," he said.

"The only other circumstances where a Peer can lose his right to sit in the House is if he is imprisoned for a period of more than one year or made bankrupt."

An added complication is that Lord Hope has been on leave since November 2012 and is therefore not subject to the Code of Conduct for Members of the House.

Eli Ward has welcomed moves by Archbishop Sentamu and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby who have agreed to consider Mr Ward's suggestion to amend the 1800-year-old seal of the confessional, to better protect children.

"Abuse is heavily documented in the media, more than it ever has been, and none of us seem to be shocked any more by the revelations being unearthed at almost every tier of society," he said.

"What is not clear to the public is how extremely well protected and secret the whole subject is."

"Whether it is a mentality to protect and cover up, lose paper work or have bungled police investigations, there is no denying that it is all extremely odd," Mr Ward said.

"The reporting to the police by members of society in positions where you would expect them to do the right thing is simply not happening."