It was crucial for the Church to listen to victims of sexual abuse, Archbishop Charles Scicluna told a news conference at the Vatican on Saturday amid fresh concerns over the way crimes were hidden from the public gaze.

“It's not about a three-day event with everyone being listened to at the same time and same place. Our attitude should be that we go home and continue to listen to people," Mgr Scicluna said in reply to questions on why more victims were not invited to the summit. 

"If you don’t listen to the narratives of victims you will never understand why you need to get it right.”

Earlier, a top Catholic cardinal admitted that Church files on priests who sexually abused children were destroyed or never even drawn up, a move which allowed paedophiles to prey on others.

Pope Francis had opened the landmark summit by saying that the world expected "concrete measures" on tackling paedophilia in the Catholic Church.

The Archbishop, who serves as the Vatican’s leading sex crimes investigator and leader of the meeting, also called for more communication with victims, insisting they should not just serve as witnesses.

“One of the main problems we have is that we do not just have problems when communicating with people but also within the Church. We need to share vital information within the Church.

“There needs to be more communication with the victims. They are not informed of the outcomes of church procedures, they have no say, and they are the ones impacted."