Senior Catholic education officials have spoken of their shock and anger at Cardinal George Pell's evidence to a royal commission that staff had covered up complaints about a paedophile priest.

Cardinal Pell told the royal commission last month that staff from the Catholic Education Office deceived him by failing to give a full account of allegations about Father Peter Searson.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse has heard evidence that Father Searson, who died in 2009, killed a bird in front of children, showed them a dead body in a coffin, held a gun to the heads of parishioners, threatened to stab a child and repeatedly molested youngsters during confession.