Boston priesthood sex abuse claims settled

The Catholic archdiocese of Boston has quietly settled child sex abuse claims against at least 70 priests in the past 10 years, reports the Boston Globe, a revelation likely to worsen a damaging scandal over paedophile priests.

The Globe's story, based on an examination of court documents and what it described as months of interviews, came as the diocese handed over to law enforcement officials the names of all priests accused over the past 40 years of sexually abusing children.

And in Ireland, victims of sexual abuse in Catholic-run schools criticised the church's offer to contribute more than $US110 million ($265 million) to a much bigger Government-run compensation fund.

The deal requires complainants to abandon lawsuits and could protect abusers from criminal proceedings.