THE Roman Catholic Church has pledged to investigate all allegations of child abuse where no action has been taken in the past, in its efforts to root out paedophile activity.

The announcement yesterday came as it published an independent inquiry into paedophile priests.

The Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, said there was an expectation that records would be trawled through in a bid to pinpoint cases where child abusers have gone unpunished.

He said: "Something that I have tried to do is to create an expectation in the Church where people who believe that they have been abused come forward and say so."

Cases which were not on file but were in "people's memories and in their hearts" would be "heard and listened to", he added.

The Nolan review on child protection in the Catholic Church has 83 recommendations, including measures to make sure that both children and priests are seen but not heard by the public when taking part in the sacrament of confession.

The move could mean the end of the old-fashioned confessional box and the introduction of glass screens to ensure visibility.

The report was issued following an increasing number of embarrassing revelations about paedophile priests.

Among them was Father Adrian McLeish who was jailed for six years in 1996 after admitting 12 charges of abusing boys and six charges of distributing child pornography. The former priest-in-charge at St Joseph's, Gilesgate, Durham, had amassed 6,000 obscene photographs, one of the largest collections ever found

Father William Jacks, of Darlington, was sentenced to five years in jail last month after committing a series of sex offences against a young boy over four years, starting when he was aged 12.

Other recommendations include creating a national child protection unit to promote good practice; creating a national database to vet candidates for the priesthood and making checks with the new Criminal Record Bureau.

Every Catholic parish would also be obliged to appoint a child protection representative, with a child protection co-ordinator for all dioceses, religious orders and seminaries