Cardinal George Pell, who was the leader of Catholics in Australia from 2001 to 2014, wrote a letter to the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Child Abuse saying he would give evidence in person if necessary.
It comes after David Ridsdale, the nephew of defrocked priest and convicted sexual abuser Gerald Ridsdale, accused Cardinal Pell of trying to bribe him to keep quiet about his abuse in a telephone conversation in 1993.
Mr Pell served as an assistant priest in the city of Ballarat in the state of Victoria from 1973 to 1983 - the place where Gerald Ridsdale used to serve.
Gerald Ridsdale was convicted of more than 100 accounts of child abuse with 54 boys during his ministry.
Cardinal Pell said: "I am horrified by the accounts that survivors have given in their evidence during the Ballarat hearings, and at the enormous impact the abuse has had on them, their families and the community.
"I am also deeply saddened by the way the Church authorities have failed in responding to these crimes.
"I am deeply to committed to assisting the royal commission and to doing anything I can to help survivors (including) giving evidence in person if asked to do so."