Cardinal Bernard Law, who was forced to resign as archbishop of Boston 15 years ago over a Church sex abuse scandal, has died aged 86 in Rome.

Cardinal Law stepped down in 2002 after journalists reported he had moved paedophile priests between parishes rather than addressing victims’ claims.

The film Spotlight was later made about the allegations against dozens of priests in his Boston diocese.

After leaving Boston, Cardinal Law took a post at the Vatican.

He worked there until 2011.

The child sex abuse allegations, which covered events over a period of decades, led to hundreds of lawsuits and threatened the Boston diocese with bankruptcy.

As a result, it agreed to sell land and buildings for more than $100m (£63m) to fund legal settlements for more than 500 victims.

The scandal prompted the Vatican to draw up new plans to combat child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.