The head of the Chilean Catholic Church said on Thursday that Bishop Juan Barros, accused of covering up clerical sex abuse in the country, should resign.

It comes just over a week after Pope Francis, who had previously defended Barros, admitted 'grave mistakes' in his handling of Chile's abuse crisis.

Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati told press that Barros, who allegedly covered up abuse of minors by his mentor Fr Fernando Karadima, should 'without a doubt' resign. However he said he would not judge 'whether or not [Barros] had covered up' abuse.

Barros did not immediately respond to request for comment by Reuters. The statement marks the first time the Chilean Catholic Church has explicitly called for Barros to resign, though it had previously called for a 'drastic solution' to the abuse crisis.

Earlier this month Pope Francis admitted he had made 'grave mistakes' in his handling of Chile's long-running abuse scandal. In a landmark letter to Chilean bishops, the pontiff wrote: 'I have made grave mistakes in the assessment and my perception of the situation, due in particular to a lack of truthful and balanced information.'

The case surrounding Barros dominated coverage of the pontiff's January visit to Chile and Peru. Francis had first defended Barros and said he had been slandered. After severe criticism however, he appointed one of the Vatican's most trusted sexual abuse investigators, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, to visit the South American country and meet with abuse victims and clergy there.

The pope's landmark letter came after reading Scicluna's 2,300-page report on the crisis, which included the testimony of 64 individuals and that he said caused him 'pain and shame' to read.

His letter added: 'I apologise to all those I have offended and I hope to be able to do it personally in the coming weeks, in the meetings I will have [with victims].'

Cardinal Ezzati said that neither he nor the Chilean Church had deceived Pope Francis. He called on abusers to come forward. 'Those who have committed errors should recognise them, regret and repair them,' he said.

Additional reporting by Reuters