One of the Catholic Church's most senior cardinals has admitted that he could have better handled sexual abuse allegations that were brought to him. Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, was one of four men who organised a major Vatican conference on child abuse last week.

Yet, reports stated that there were two separate cases where the Cardinal had allegedly failed to respond quickly or offer support to survivors. India's Catholics say there is a culture of fear and silence in the Church regarding sexual abuse by priests.