The Roman Catholic Church has agreed to pay £330,000 (€475,000) in compensation to a former altar boy who was sexually abused by a priest in England.
Lawyers acting for Mr Simon Grey said the out-of-court settlement being paid to the 38-year-old was believed to be the highest amount in connection with an individual abuse case involving a UK priest.
The settlement was reached just days before the father-of-three was to due to sue the Archdiocese of Birmingham in the High Court for failing to act on claims that assistant parish priest Christopher Clonan posed a danger to children.
Mr Grey, who was brought up in Coventry, was abused while attending the city's Christ The King Church, where Clonan worked for 20 years. Clonan fled abroad when the sex abuse accusations publicly surfaced in 1992 and was reported to have died of natural causes in Australia in 1998.
Mr Grey, who had been seeking £1 million, said: "I am glad it is all over, obviously, but in some ways I am feeling a little deflated.
"I would have liked to have my case heard in open court, but pursuing that principle could have cost me money and my sanity."
Mr Grey's solicitor, John Housden, said the Birmingham Archdiocese had accepted liability for breaching its duty of care to Mr Grey between 1975 and 1981 - after it was made aware of sex abuse allegations.
"A senior priest had been notified of the abuse. He either did nothing or he may have advised the church authorities, and if he did, they did nothing," Mr Housden said.
PA