The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $660 million (€480m) to 500 victims of sexual abuse dating back as far as the 1940s, according to the plaintiffs' lawyer.
The settlement means victims will receive more than $1 million each, which is the largest from the Catholic Church in recent years following many cases in which victims sought financial compensation for suffering abuse from priests.
Ray Boucher, lead plaintiff attorney in the case, said he would issue a joint announcement with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles later today.
The case was scheduled to go to trial tomorrow in Los Angeles Superior Court, focusing on 12 plaintiffs who accused former priest Clinton Hagenbach of molesting them. Hagenbach died 20 years ago.
Had the case gone to trial, lawyers had sought to put Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles, in the uncomfortable position of testifying about the Church's response to abuses dating from the 1940s to the 1990s.
Because the criminal statute of limitations has expired, victims in California and elsewhere have brought lawsuits against the Church over the issue.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Diocese, speaking a few hours before lawyers for the victims announced the deal, would only say that church officials planned to be in court tomorrow morning.
The judge hearing the case would have to approve the settlement, which a party of the case who did not want to be named put at $660 million
David Clohessy, national director of Snap, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the deal was by far the largest group settlement with the Catholic Church, although a handful of plaintiffs have received greater amounts on an individual basis than each is to receive from this settlement.
"It is never about the money," Mr Clohessy said in an interview. "Victims want healing, prevention, closing, accountability."
The diocese is expected to sell property to raise the settlement funds. The Los Angeles Timesnewspaper has estimated that the Archdiocese has real estate holdings worth more than $4 billion.