MONTANA
San Francisco Chronicle

MATT VOLZ, Associated Press

Updated 3:16 p.m., Wednesday, October 24, 2012

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena and 319 people who say priests and nuns sexually abused them as children are making progress toward a mediated settlement, attorneys representing the sides said Wednesday.

The two combined lawsuits allege decades of clergy sexual abuse in missions, schools and homes in western Montana going back to the 1940s. The plaintiffs, many of them Native Americans, say the diocese knew or should have known about the abuse, but covered it up instead of stopping it.

Earlier this year, the diocese pledged to cooperate with the plaintiffs’ attorneys in identifying victims and working toward a mediated settlement. Diocese attorney Mike Patterson called this approach a different template from past sex abuse lawsuits across the nation in which a diocese would declare bankruptcy and let those…