Church leaders were negligent when suspected incidents of sex abuse were brought to their attention, a Vatican report has concluded .

The admission was made in a report published on Tuesday examining the causes of the Irish sex abuse scandal that erupted several years ago.

The Apostolic Visitation is the culmination of a two-year investigation initiated by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 following a crisis meeting with Irish bishops at the Vatican.

At the time, the Pope expressed his dismay at the extent of the abuse and subsequent cover-up exposed in the Ryan and Murphy reports.

Tuesday's report echoed these sentiments, conveying the "great sense of pain and shame" over the abuse scandal that "opened wounds" and caused people to lose trust in clergy.

"Innocent young people were abused by clerics and religious to whose care they had been entrusted, while those who should have exercised vigilance often failed to do so effectively," the report found.

"For these faults, forgiveness must once more be asked: from God and from the victims."

The investigation was conducted by a delegation of seven Vatican-appointed church leaders and spanned the four archdioceses in Ireland.

Investigators spent the last two years in conversation with clergy, seminarians, congregations and victims.

The report commended the Church for the support it was providing to victims and recommended that authorities "continue to devote much time listening to and receiving victims, and providing support for them and their families".

While many Catholics have felt "unjustly tainted" by the scandal, the report points to "signs of hope" within the Church, including the "human and spiritual bonds among the faithful at a time of crisis" and the "remarkable level of lay involvement in the structures of child protection".

Catholic primate Cardinal Sean Brady welcomed the findings.

He said: "In expressing true sorrow and regret, we make our own the heartfelt plea for forgiveness from the victims, and from God, for these terrible crimes and sins."