Roman Catholic bishops in England and Wales have rejected the allegations of a BBC documentary which said that Pope Benedict XVI imposed a strict system to cover up child sex abuse cases in the Church while in his previous job.
The documentary by "Panorama" was aired late on Sunday evening and based its case on what it described as a secret document written in 1962 that sets out a procedure for dealing with child sex abuse within the Catholic Church.
Under the guidelines of the document, the "Crimen Sollicitationis", the child victim, the priest dealing with the allegation and any witness must swear an oath of secrecy - the result of breaking the oath being excommunication, claimed Panorama.
"The procedure was intended to protect a priest's reputation until the church had investigated, but in practice it can offer a blueprint for cover-up," the BBC documentary said.
"The man in charge of enforcing it for 20 years was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the man made Pope last year," reporter Colm O'Gorman said in the programme "Sex Crimes and the Vatican".
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, has responded to the documentary with plans to write to Mark Thompson, director general of the BBC, which defended its documentary.
"The protection of children is clearly an issue of the strongest public interest," it said in a statement, responding to the bishops' criticism. "The BBC stands by tonight's 'Panorama' programme, and invites viewers to make up their own minds once they've seen it."
