A retired bishop has slammed Australia's most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, as an embarrassment, saying priests must be prepared to break the confessional seal if it is for the "greater good".

Bishop Geoffrey Robinson says Cardinal Pell is out of step with the majority of Australia's bishops and should no longer speak for the Catholic Church in Australia on the issue of sexual abuse by the clergy.

He was speaking to The World Today after Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said the issue of whether priests should be forced to reveal information given to them in the confessional would be considered by the upcoming royal commission into institutionalised sexual abuse.

Bishop Robinson, who won international attention for his published work on the need for the church to confront the abuse problem, told Tim Palmer that he believed Cardinal Pell was "not a team player".

"He never has been. Now, on this subject too he's not consulting with anyone else, he's simply doing his own thing.

"I personally believe he's doing it very badly indeed and I think the other Australian bishops, as one of the very first questions they need to face, they've got to confront him and determine who it is that speaks in their name and who doesn't.

"The other bishops would have to speak for themselves, but I have to say that on this subject he's a great embarrassment to me and to a lot of good Catholic people."

Bishop Robinson said he was not sure that making it mandatory to report sex abuse crimes that are revealed in the confession box would make a difference.

"Offenders in this field, in paedophilia, do not go to confession and confess," he said.

"They've convinced themselves that what they're doing is right, there's an extraordinary amount of distorted thinking that goes on.

"Also I think they're afraid of what the priest would say to them. That he would not simply give them absolution. He would make all sorts of demands on them."

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Bishop Robinson said he would ask permission to refer allegations of abuse to police if a victim attended confession and described an assault.

"If the person won't go that far, then I would have to make a decision, and if I really thought that young people were at serious risk, then I would speak to the police," he said.

"I'd have to weigh a lot of things up - did I know the name of the alleged offender? Did I know the name of the alleged victim?

"If I didn't, if it's simply someone who comes into confessional who's not known to me, then obviously I can't tell the police that.

"I would be prepared to break the seal of confessional because you have to weigh up the greatest good, and here the greatest good is the protection of innocent people."

Bishop Robinson said the hands of Australian bishops were tied.

"Most of the changes that are needed must come from the Pope, and if he won't move, then the Australian bishops have their hands tied.

"The chances of getting the Pope to say that priests could break the seal of confessional are, well, nil."