Abuse victims have derided prayers for them offered at a Mass in Sydney's Catholic cathedral yesterday as hypocritical and an empty gesture designed to keep donations coming.

"This is the ultimate hypocrisy," said Nicky Davis, a victim and spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, about the prayers offered by Sydney Bishop Julian Porteous at St Mary's Cathedral.

"Victims do not see this as a genuine attempt to help us, nor that its intended audience is victims at all. We are being used to make those Catholics still attending Mass feel like something is being done to help victims so that they don't stop funding the church in protest," Ms Davis said.

At the Mass, Bishop Porteous said the sexual abuse of children was a “most heinous crime’’ because of the damage it did to victims and their families, and was worse if the abuser represented the Church and was in a unique position of trust.

Ms Davis said: "Senior Catholic figures are still lying to the media and anyone who'll believe them about their widespread and systematic cover-up of serious criminal offences against defenceless children."