The ex-bishop of Rochester today claimed 'no church is perfect' as he defended his decision to convert to Catholicism.
Michael Nazir-Ali, who was the Bishop of Rochester from 1994 until 2009, could be ordained as a priest as early as next month after spending 'some years' considering the change.
Despite the Roman church facing hundreds of allegations of historic sex abuse, Dr Nazie-Ali today said he was not deterred.
When asked by BBC Radio 4's Today programme why he still decided to convert, he said 'the Catholic church is not the only church' to face such accusations.
He added: 'No church is perfect and I am certainly not pretending the Catholic church is perfect. I think it is absolutely right that this business about the abuse of children should be fully investigated and brought out into the open.'
Michael Nazir-Ali (pictured), who was the Bishop of Rochester from 1994 until 2009, could be ordained as a priest as early as next month after spending 'some years' considering the change
The married father-of-two revealed The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, did not try to convince him to stay. He added: 'I think he respected the decision that I had made and I was grateful for that.' Pictured, Dr Nazir-Ali with Prince Philip in 2002
Earlier this month, an independent commission examining sex abuse within the Roman Catholic Church in France said it believed 3,000 child abusers — two-thirds of them priests — have worked in the church over the past 70 years.
The commission president, Jean-Marc Sauvé, said in an interview published in the newspaper Journal du Dimanche that 22 cases have been forwarded to prosecutors for alleged crimes that can still be pursued.
More than 40 cases of alleged crimes that are too old to be prosecuted but that involve suspects who are still alive have been forwarded to church officials, Sauvé said.
Dr Nazir-Ali said the abuse of children 'should not be swept under the carpet' but as a diocese bishop in the Church of England he was aware of instances of Anglican ministers sexually abusing young members of their congregation.
'I know that this occurs in all the churches,' he added. 'And indeed in many other public bodies and indeed in the home.'
The married father-of-two went on to reveal The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, did not try to convince him to stay. He added: 'I think he respected the decision that I had made and I was grateful for that.'
Dr Nazir-Ali (pictured in 1996) has previously accused the CofE of 'jumping onto every faddish bandwagon'
Dr Nazir-Ali has previously accused the CofE of 'jumping onto every faddish bandwagon about identity politics, cultural correctness and mea culpas about Britain's imperial past'.
But in today's interview he simply said the CofE needs clearer 'teaching on marriage and the family, conscience and freedom.' He added that the Catholic church was a global body which made decisions as a unit, while the CofE often doesn't consult its members on changes.
He said: 'There is a lack of a sense of belonging to a worldwide, universal body, where decisions that affect everyone are taken by everyone together and not unilaterally by one part of the church or another.'
The 72-year-old has now joined the Catholic Ordinariate, which was set up in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI to allow Anglicans to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.
Dr Nazir-Ali's switch to Catholicism comes just weeks after the Bishop of Ebbsfleet Jonathan Goodall did the same. A source close to him reportedly said that Bishop Goodall was also unhappy with the direction of the church.
In 2010, five bishops left because of their dissatisfaction about the introduction of female bishops.
Dr Nazir-Ali's conversion to Catholicism is seen as the most significant since Graham Leonard, the former Bishop of London, who was received into the Church in 1994 after rejecting the ordination of women priests.
Other high-profile conversions have included the Duchess of Kent; former Prime Minister Tony Blair and ex-Conservative cabinet minister Anne Widdecombe.
Married father-of-two Dr Nazir-Ali was the Bishop of Rochester from 1994 until 2009
Dr Nazir-Ali has been married to Valerie (pictured) since 1972 and they have two adult sons
Dr Nazir-Ali was received by Monsignor Keith Newton and will be ordained to the Catholic priesthood for the Ordinariate in due course, with the permission of the Holy See.
Earlier this week, he said: 'I believe that the Anglican desire to adhere to apostolic, patristic and conciliar teaching can now best be maintained in the Ordinariate.
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI established the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in 2011 to allow Anglicans to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.
Converts joining the ordinariate are allowed to keep some Anglican liturgy and traditions, and it has the full support of Pope Francis.
Many of the converts in its early years were said to have increasingly have felt isolated since the Church of England decided in 1992 to ordain women as priests. They were becoming disenchanted with the Church of England's liberal teachings.
In 2012, Benedict XVI gave £150,000 to the Ordinariate which was put into a fund to buy places of worship and provide stipends for priests.
The Ordinariate takes its name from an 11th century vision by a woman in Walsingham, Norfolk, who claimed the Virgin Mary led her in spirit to Nazareth to see the place where an angel told her she would bear a son.
Benedict XVI caught Catholic and Anglican leaders in England by surprise in October 2009 when he gave them notice of his announcement that he was creating the Ordinariate.
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'Provisions there to safeguard legitimate Anglican patrimony are very encouraging and, I believe, that such patrimony in its Liturgy, approaches to biblical study, pastoral commitment to the community, methods of moral theology and much else besides has a great deal to offer the wider Church.
'I am looking forward to receiving from the riches of other parts of the Church, while perhaps making a modest contribution to the maintenance and enhancement of Anglican patrimony within the wider fellowship.
'Ministry in the Church of Pakistan, in the Middle East generally, in the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion remains precious to me and I see this as a further step in the ministry of our common Lord and of his people. At this time, I ask for prayers as I continue to pray for all parts of the Church.'
Since resigning as a
