Revd Canon Janet Chapman has been speaking after Birmingham's top coroner ordered new inquests in light of "significant" new information.
Louise Hunt said evidence has emerged which supports claims West Midlands Police missed two potential warnings of the bomb attacks.
Revd Canon Janet Chapman belongs to Birmingham's St Philip's Cathedral, which has been holding a yearly vigil for the victims of the double bombing which struck the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town public houses.
Explaining her hopes for the new inquests, she told Premier: "I think it is about discovering more about the truth. It is a desperate situation with the gross miscarriage of justice 40 or so years ago now.
Janet added: "For those who have committed these acts of violence, they will be carrying the guilt of that even today and maybe it is an opportunity for them to come forward and say 'Actually I did it; I was a part of this and I am sorry.
"I have worked in Birmingham Cathedral for nearly eight years and I have got to know some of the victims of the families and I have seen the heartache they carry because they do not know the truth of what has happened."
Julie Hambleton (pictured above), whose 18-year-old sister Maxine was among the victims, welcomed the news of fresh inquests, adding: "Our loved ones did not ask to be murdered that night. All we want is to be heard so we can get the truth, justice and accountability."
Paddy Hill (pictured above) was among six men - known as the Birmingham Six (pictured below) - convicted for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings but their convictions were ruled unsafe and later overturned.
He said: "We'll never get justice but I tell you one thing that we can get and that's the one thing we deserve the most - the truth.
"It's not so much me, I know the truth, I want this for the families."
West Midlands Police is promising to support the new inquests and says the botched initial investigation was "the most serious failing in this force's history".
Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: "I understand families of those who lost their lives are frustrated, disappointed and angry.
"Since 2012, and directly as a result of the campaign by families of those who died, we have carefully reassessed the opportunities to bring the people responsible to justice.
"Despite an intense scrutiny we have not been able to see, at this time, a prospect of doing this. That has been an authentic and painstaking search for the truth."
You can hear Revd Canon Janet Chapman from Birmingham's St Philip's Cathedral speaking with Premier's Alex Williams by clicking here.