The Catholic Church has an opportunity to begin to excise the "cancer" of sex abuse under its new pope, a US victim who just won a $1 million settlement and his lawyer said Thursday. Michael Duran, who says he was raped repeatedly by a Californian priest in the mid-1980s, urged Pope Francis to defrock Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, one of those who chose the new pontiff, for allegedly covering up abuse.

Victims of child abuse in Catholic-run institutions in Ireland on Thursday called on newly elected Pope Francis to ensure that clergy who covered up the abuse are held accountable. "We want proper accountability. Even to this day, we are fighting cases in the redress board, the High Court and the Supreme Court," Tom Hayes of the Alliance Victims Support Group told AFP.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to four men who alleged they were molested by a former priest in the 1970s, their lawyers said Tuesday. Settlements were reached this month between lawyers for the men, the former priest involved, and LA's Cardinal Roger Mahony, who is taking part in the conclave to choose a new pope despite protests from victims.

Children who suffered sexual abuse in Ireland's Catholic schools during the 1970s failed to receive sufficient protection from the state, one of the victims told the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday. Louise O'Keeffe, 46, is suing the Irish state after suffering repeated abuse by a former principal of the Dunderrow primary school in Cork, southwestern Ireland, in 1973, when she was eight. O'Keeffe argues that the Irish state should take the blame for the abuse since it failed to implement reporting measures to prevent and stop the crimes.