BOSTON -- An attorney representing some of the alleged victims of priest sex abuse said Friday talks to settle lawsuits against the church have broken down.

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NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that attorney Jeffrey Newman said that the Archdiocese of Boston is no longer discussing settling the hundreds of lawsuits brought against it by alleged victims of sexual abuse.

Bishop Richard Lennon, interim leader of the Boston Archdiocese, maintained that the church is trying to settle the lawsuits.

"I know that there are active conversations going on at this time," Lennon said.

Newman said that even though the church talks about settling lawsuits, its attorneys are doing everything possible to gear up for trial, including hiring private investigators to follow and photograph alleged victims.

"The truth of the matter is if you were able to get them to come forth and explain the dynamics of things, they would have to admit everything is now frozen," Newman said.

Lennon launched the church's annual fund-raising drive Friday as literature for donors expressly stated that no money raised during the drive would go toward lawsuits.

"Rather than ignore that question, we felt that the best thing to do was to address it head on," Lennon said.

The lay group Voice of the Faithful had organized its own fund-raising effort for Catholics who did not want to give to the church directly out of concern the money would go to lawsuits rather than to church ministries.

The annual church effort used to be called the Cardinal's Appeal, but it is now being called the Catholic Appeal.

Newman said if the lawsuits end up going to trial, they could take 10 years to litigate.