EUGENE (AP) - Two judges who have been mediating months of secret talks in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland bankruptcy case have scheduled a news conference today, possibly involving a settlement.

U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan and Lane County Circuit Judge Lyle Velure have not said if an agreement has been reached.

But a settlement could end many - possibly all - of the more than 100 pending Oregon cases claiming sex abuse by priests.

The announcement came as the trial had been expected to start in a $135 million lawsuit that triggered the bankruptcy filing in July 2004.

The Archdiocese of Portland was the first in the nation to seek protection from creditors when it went to federal bankruptcy court to head off the massive lawsuit claiming sexual abuse by the late Rev. Maurice Grammond, who worked in several parishes - including some in Seaside, Oakridge and Portland.

Three other dioceses have filed for bankruptcy since Portland did, Spokane, Wash., Tucson, Ariz. and Davenport, Iowa. Only Tucson has emerged from the process.

The Oregon bankruptcy case has pitted the federal courts against church law, or canon law, in a dispute over who owns church property.

The archdiocese had claimed it merely holds the property of its individual in trust for the parishes, and cannot sell it to satisfy any judgments.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Perris, however, had ruled that parish property belonged to the archdiocese, potentially allowing its sale.

But in a separate bankruptcy case in Spokane, a federal judge reached the opposite conclusion, ruling that parish property was held in trust and could not be sold to pay sex-abuse victims.

Perris cleared the way for alleged abuse victims to go to trial last April after the archdiocese and its creditors - the alleged victims - were unable to agree on settlement plans each side had offered.

Earlier this month, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said it would pay $60 million to settle 45 abuse lawsuits, possibly selling off some of its property in Southern California to help cover the cost.

The Roman Catholic church has paid an estimated $1.5 billion since 1950 to handle claims of sex abuse by its priests.

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On the Net:

Archdiocese of Portland: http://www.archpdx.org