THE Bishop of Hereford has defended the role of the church in child protection monitoring.

In an interview for Community Care, a weekly magazine for the social care sector, the Rt Rev Anthony Priddis, who chairs the Church of England central safeguarding liaison group, insists that current child protection policy in the church "is not going fundamentally wrong".

In the article, an unnamed diocesan child protection advisor claims that churches have an "innate over-optimism" that is a barrier to handling abuse effectively.

"The sense of forgiveness and belief in people's ability to change gets in the way," she is quoted as saying. "Clergy are often reluctant to accept that some people can be dangerous."

Bishop Priddis hopes her view is not a fair comment on Church of England policies today.

He says that forgiveness is not a substitute for dealing with paedophiles.

"Paedophiles have a distorted mindset. We can't assume they will change, and mostly they can't," said the Bishop. "If people don't understand the cycle of abuse, there's a danger they will not take it seriously."

Recent court cases have highlighted failings in previous church handling of abuse cases. All pre-date the introduction in 1995 of child protection guidance and the introduction of child protection advisors in every diocese.

The Bishop says dioceses will be asked to review files "on anybody who is still alive" to spot previous abuse allegations. "Even one more case that slipped through the net would be one too many," he said.

"We want to ensure there are no more cases lurking. If there are any question marks over cases, we will see what action can be taken."