A brief history of sexual abuse allegations and cases in the embattled Archdiocese of Boston:
1973: The Rev. Ronald Paquin was ordained. According to the father of one Paquin's accusers, abuse began almost immediately.
1975: The late Boston Cardinal Humberto Medeiros was notified that the Rev. Paul Shanley was accused of molesting four young boys. No action was taken by the Boston Archdiocese.
1979: Shanley was moved to another parish where further abuse allegedly took place, despite warnings of previous sexual abuse allegations.
1983: Shanley allegedly began a pattern of rape of one boy and sexual molestation of other young boys. The behavior continued until 1990, his accusers say.
1984: In a letter directly addressed to Law, a Massachusetts woman accused Geoghan of abusing her sons. Law has said he doesn't remember receiving the letter, even though he admitted his handwriting was on the envelope. The writing was intended for a bishop within the archdiocese: "Urgent, please follow through."
Geoghan was reassigned to another parish despite the fact that he had already undergone treatment for sexual abuse and had been dismissed from two previous parishes after accusatons of sexually abusing boys. At St. Julia's, his new parish, Geoghan was placed at the head of youth organizations.
1990: Shanley moved to California. The diocese there received no warning of Shanley's history of parish reassignments and sexual abuse allegations. There are no reported cases of abuse during Shanley's time in California.
1992: Accusations of sexual abuse at the hands of the Rev. James R. Porter of Massachusetts, now defrocked, started a wave of people coming forward with their own accusations. Porter pleaded not guilty to 46 counts of molestation. After conviction, he was sentenced to an 18-year prison term.
1993: Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law established a new policy to deal with sexually abusive priests. The archdiocese began to review clergy personnel files for evidence of past complaints of abuse. Priests found to have had such complaints and priests facing fresh charges as victims came forward were removed from parish duty. Geoghan was relieved of his duties within the parish. Several civil and criminal cases allege that even after being removed from his post, the abuse continued.
1994: After being removed from active duty under the 1993 reforms, the Rev. Paul J. Mahan was sent away for diagnosis and treatment. Mahan was diagnosed as being attracted to teenage boys and was deemed untreatable. Mahan returned to active service in a parish within the Boston Archdiocese.
1996: Geoghan was accused by a Massachusetts woman of abusing her three children for two and half years starting in 1992. Geoghan was removed from his parish and placed on "senior priest retirement status."
1997: Mahan was defrocked as evidence emerged that Mahan may have molested teenage boys.
1998: More than 50 lawsuits filed against the Catholic Church alleging sexual abuse by Geoghan were settled out of court. Geoghan was defrocked.
June 2000: Youth minister Christopher Reardon was arrested for sexually abusing children in a Massachusetts community. Reardon pleaded guilty to 122 counts of abuse involving 24 boys and was sentenced to 40 to 50 years in a federal penitentiary.
Jan. 6, 2002: The Boston Globe printed a story outlining Geoghan's pattern of child molestation and Law's repeated reassignment of Geoghan, even though Law knew of the now-defrocked priest's problem since 1984.
Jan. 26, 2002: During an interview with a newspaper reporter, Paquin admitted to abusing boys beginning in the mid-1970s before being removed from active parish duty in 1990.
Jan. 31, 2002: The Boston Globe reported that the archdiocese had settled cases of molestation spanning over a decade and involving an estimated 70 priests.
The Boston Archdiocese turned over the names of nine priests who were accused of sexual misconduct from the 1960s to 1990s to law enforcement officials. Prosecutors said they may begin building cases against the accused.
Feb. 7, 2002: Six priests were suspended over allegations of sexual abuse. Two of the priests had been the subjects of settlements that had required them to be removed from parish duties years before.
March 1, 2002: Boston Archdiocese lawyers agreed to release the names of alleged victims of abuse to law-enforcement officials in the cases of at least 90 priests during the past few decades.
March 12, 2002: Eighty-six alleged victims of Geoghan reached a settlement with the archdiocese. Lawyers said the settlement could cost the church between $15 million and $30 million.
March 21, 2002: Pope John Paul II broke his silence on the scandal in his Easter letter to Catholics. The pope said that abusive priests have succumbed to evil and cast suspicion over other priests worldwide.
March 22, 2002: Garry Garland filed a lawsuit against the Boston Archdiocese, claiming that he was molested by Monsignor Frederick Ryan at the chancery, where former Cardinal Humberto Medeiros lived.
March 28, 2002: Garland was arrested outside Ryan's home. Police said Garland was distraught and may have been trying to injure Ryan or himself. Garland underwent a psychological evaluation.
April 5, 2002: The Boston Archdiocese turned over more than 1,000 pages of documents related to Shanley, accused by at least four men of molesting them when they were young boys. The documents showed that Shanley attended a founding meeting of the North American Man-Boy Love Association, which advocates sexual relationships between men and boys. They also indicated that the archdiocese knew of accusations against Shanley but moved him from parish to parish before giving him a positive job recommendation for a posting in California.
April 22, 2002: After being summoned by the pope, American cardinals arrived in Rome for a summit on the growing sexual abuse scandal. One rumor said that Law would be asked to resign. After meetings, the cardinals affirmed their support of Law.
April 24, 2002: The cardinals meeting in Rome drafted a statement saying that serial pedophiles will be suspended from the church. Critics said the policy does not go far enough. The new policy will come before a meeting of American bishops in June.
April 29, 2002: Papers filed by attorneys for Law claimed that partial blame for alleged abuse at the hands of Shanley should lie with the alleged victims and their families. Although it is a standard defense in such cases, the papers drew outrage from accusers, who said they were not at fault for what the priests did to them.
May 2, 2002 : Shanley was arrested at an apartment in San Diego on a warrant alleging rape of a child. Authorities tracked down Shanley with the help of broadcast news organizations, which found out where Shanley was living. Officials said the alleged abuse took place within the statute of limitations. Shanley was brought back to Massachusetts, where he pleaded not guilty to child-rape charges.
May 3, 2002: The Boston Archdiocese pulled out of a settlement agreement with 86 accusers of Geoghan. The archdiocese's finance council refused to approve the deal, even though it had been signed by Law. A council member said that the church could not afford the settlement and be able to pay other victims.
May 7, 2002: Paquin was arrested at his Malden, Mass., home. He was charged with rape and abuse of a child under 16. Police said they arrested him because of a tip that he was trying to leave the area.
May 8, 2002: Law was questioned in a deposition in a case brought by alleged victims of Geoghan. Law said he couldn't recall certain details of various abuse allegations. In a transcript of the deposition, Law acknowledged that he wrote a note on the envelope of a letter from a mother alleging that her son was abused by Geoghan. Law was deposed for two more days, but the transcripts were not released. An attorney for the accusers said that he needs more time to question the cardinal.
May 14, 2002: More documents released in the Shanley case indicated that archdiocese officials knew of allegations against Shanley. One document showed an allegation made against him in 1961; another showed that some in the archdiocese had concerns about Shanley in 1994.
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