The Catholic Church launched an international Internet centre against paedophilia on Thursday at the close of a four-day Vatican summit aimed at ending decades of abuses and cover-ups.

The new e-learning Centre for Child Protection will be based in Germany, with partners in Argentina, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Italy and Kenya, seeking to bring together research and ways to prevent clerical abuse.

The centre "is only one part of a renewal of the Church," Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the archbishop of Munich, said at a press conference.

"This historical hour obliges us to an attitude both of humility and action... The loss of credibility is far from over but we will rebuild credibility step by step," he said.