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Lord Carey directly addressed those who had been harmed at the hands of Ball, who was imprisoned in 2015 for sexually abusing 18 young men over 30 years.

Now aged 86, Ball, the former bishop of Lewes and then Gloucester, was released in February last year.

Giving evidence at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, Lord Carey said: “They fell into the trap of a pretty wicked person, a deluded person who used his considerable influence to shape them wrongly.”

He added: “We failed the abused in a number of different ways and I want to say that if I were to do it now I think I would do it a number of different ways, with hindsight.

“We did not have safeguarding procedures in place then. One thing I could have done is to set up an action committee to delve into matters more individually as well.”

Lord Carey was archbishop of Canterbury between 1991 and 2002, and oversaw the Church of England at the time of Ball’s arrest in December 1992.

He told the inquiry that child protection was not an issue at the forefront of the CofE during his tenure and that the “cumbersome” institution was sometimes “behind the curve” when it came to addressing allegations of abuse.

Lord Carey added that revelations of sexual abuse around prominent figures in recent decades have made people more aware of the dangers which face young people…

St Malachy’s Down and Connor Diocesan Seminary in Belfast has been operating for 185 years but is due to close down in September.

The Diocese of Down and Connor has blamed the closure on the discontinuation of philosophy classes offered at Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB) which is where St Malachy’s seminary students would study a range of degrees.

The seminary said in a statement: “The closure of the Department of Scholastic Philosophy at Queen’s University and, more recently, the progressive discontinuation of modules in scholastic philosophy on offer within QUB have placed a great strain on the required philosophical training of clerical students in Belfast as a prerequisite for theological studies.”

The seminary’s remaining students will have to relocate their studies for priesthood outside of Northern Ireland, as St Malachy’s was the only one.

The seminary said it’s a sad moment, but the decision was in “best interests of the seminarians who are currently in formation”.

“This decision has been taken with a certain sadness yet with trust in the providence of God, and with much satisfaction over what has been achieved through the diocesan seminary over the years,” the statement added.

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Daniel Ortega, who said he is open to continuing talks mediated by the Roman Catholic Church, has denied that he controls paramilitary groups blamed for most of the killings.

In a recorded interview broadcast on Monday by Fox News, Mr Ortega said they are supported by his political opponents and foreign interests.

That is counter to what international organisations and Nicaraguan human rights groups have documented.

Last week, the Organisation of American States adopted a resolution condemning human rights abuses committed by Nicaraguan police and armed pro-government civilians.

“We were elected by the voters,” Mr Ortega said. The next election is not scheduled until 2021.

“And then we’ll have to see who will be voted in for the new administration.”

The president also denied responsibility for attacks on the Catholic Church, whose facilities and clergy have faced aggression in recent weeks.

Last week, in a speech on the anniversary of the Nicaraguan revolution, Mr Ortega accused Catholic bishops of working with coup plotters, saying that disqualified them as mediators.

But in the interview, the president said, “We invite the Catholic Church to continue with the dialogue so the dialogue can grow and develop in an open manner.”

Nicaragua’s bishops met on Monday behind closed doors to discuss how to restart talks between the government and opposition.

Meanwhile there were…

The abuse he suffered at the hands of the bishop paled in comparison to the reaction from officials in the Church of England, Reverend Graham Sawyer said.

He told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse that the church must stop what he called an “ecclesiastical protection racket” whereby he said people rally round to protect the church’s reputation above the interests of the individual.

Rev Sawyer, a vicar at St James’ Church, Briercliffe in the diocese of Burnley, told how Ball had demanded that the then teenager strip naked before he would recommend him to be ordained.

He refused to do so and withdrew from the ordination.

Some years later when he decided to apply again he was rejected, and a friend who looked into why told him there was a “big black mark against you in the Church of England”.

Rev Sawyer, who said Ball had had “the reputation of a living saint”, moved to New Zealand where he was ordained in 1998 in Wellington diocese.

The vicar, who has returned to the UK and waived his right to anonymity, told the inquiry: “The sex abuse that was perpetrated upon me by Peter Ball pales into insignificance when compared to the entirely cruel and sadistic treatment that has been meted out to me by officials, both lay and ordained.

“I know from the testimony of other people who have got in touch with me over the last five or 10 years that what I have…