Church authorities insist the leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales was not to blame for allowing a convicted paedophile to work abroad.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor was Bishop of Arundel and Brighton when priest Tim Garratt, 57, was given a post coaching children in Geneva, seven years after he was given a 60-day suspended sentence for possession of pornographic images of children in 1984.

However, the Catholic church has said Garratt heard about the job in Geneva in 1991 and initially applied for it without the cardinal's knowledge.

They say the cardinal, already embroiled in a storm of controversy over his decision to appoint paedophile priest Michael Hill as chaplain at Gatwick airport in 1984, at the time fully informed the Catholic authorities in Geneva about Garratt's conviction.

They said it had been entirely the decision of the Catholic panel in Switzerland to appoint him. The panel was warned Garratt could only work under close supervision.

Garratt left Portsmouth after his conviction and went to work as an assistant priest in Redhill, Surrey, and then in Eastbourne before applying for the post.

Church spokesman Mark Morley said: "At all times the parish authorities were made aware of his convictions."

Garratt, who now lives at a Catholic retreat in Sussex and is suffering from a wasting disease, eventually took the job in Geneva, where he was given responsibility for coaching children.

The revelations come in the wake of allegations the cardinal covered up the activities of Hill, 68, who has been jailed for five years for a string of sex offences against three boys between 1969 and 1987.