It comes as a group of survivors prepare to take their former diocese to court after allegations of an institutional cover-up.

The claims date back to the 1950s and relate to pupils at St Bede's in Manchester.

Lawyers have begun proceedings on behalf of the victims who were aged between 11 and 15 at the time of the abuse.

Kathleen Hallisey, of London-based child abuse lawyers AO Advocates, said they and other victims are made to suffer again.

"They hear something that the Church is saying publicly, or a statement that the Pope has made about supporting victims, and they expect that that is going to affect the litigation, which is vigorous, well defended, well fought litigation.

"The Catholic Church not only deny that they are at fault; they deny that the abuse has even happened. So they make victims and survivors prove that they have been abused, and that's even when there's a clearly documented pattern and complaints against perpetrators."

In the case of St Bede's, allegations relate to Monsignor Thomas Duggan, Father Charles Mulholland and Father Vincent Hamilton - all of whom died before being brought to justice.

The survivors are now taking out a civil case against the Diocese of Salford for what they say is a failure to protect them from abuse.

Ms Hallisey believes if the Church was serious in their public apologies they would admit their failings in the legal domain.

"There's a huge level of hypocrisy, which is hard for us as lawyers to deal with, but you can only imagine how hard that is for our clients who are victims."

She also revealed some of the legal defences being put forward by the Catholic Church: "Someone has been abused, say from the age of 11, and the abuse carries on past the age of consent. So the Catholic Church will make allegations that the person consented to the abuse because the abuse was still going on past the age that they could legally consent to it. Those are horrific and despicable arguments to be making."

The case against the Diocese of Salford is due to go to trial in May.

It is hoped that the positivity given to the release of a Hollywood movie about abuse will help the case.

Another lawyer at AO Advocates, Thomas Beale, said there were "significant" similarities between the film 'Spotlight' and the allegations of abuse at St Bede's Catholic school in Manchester decades ago.

The movie, which is due to be released in the UK on January 29, has been tipped for Oscars success. Starring Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, it tells the true story of how the Boston Globe's journalists uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic archdiocese.