A grand jury charged prison inmate Joseph Druce with murder today over the death of paedophile priest and fellow inmate John Geoghan, who was found strangled and beaten in his prison cell, authorities said.

The Boston Archdiocese has agreed to pay $85m (€76m) to settle more than 550 court claims from people who allege Roman Catholic priests abused them, a leading lawyer in the cases said.

Former priest John Geoghan, a convicted child molester who became a central figure in the Catholic church’s sex abuse scandal in the United States, has been killed in prison, a Boston state spokesman said tonight.

IBEC Chief Executive Brian Geoghan says this afternoon's Budget is an opportunity for the Government to build for the future.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy rather than face a costly legal battle that could last years.

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The Boston Archdiocese and alleged sex abuse victims of defrocked Catholic priest John Geoghan have reached a tentative $10m (€10.06m) settlement.

Some advocates for sex abuse victims have said Pope John Paul II’s first public comments in Canada on priests who molest children sent the wrong message: that the Roman Catholic Church cares more about clergy than those who were abused.

The Archdiocese of Boston has reached a multi-million dollar settlement with dozens of people who claimed they were sexually molested by a former Catholic priest.