Dozens of pending clergy sex-abuse lawsuits against Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania have passed into a legal limbo following a state Supreme Court ruling this week.

Advocates for both sides say many of the 100-plus lawsuits still outstanding statewide likely will be dismissed.

"This is a setback for public safety, a victory for child molesters and a relief for duplicitous bishops," said David Clohessy, national director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

The "setback" is a state Supreme Court decision announced Wednesday in Harrisburg in which the court refused to hear an appeal of a Superior Court decision made in March.

At issue were 17 child sex abuse cases filed against the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, with alleged crimes dating back to 1957. A Common Pleas judge threw out the case because the allegations were so old that the statute of limitations had run out. In March a panel of Superior Court judges in Philadelphia agreed.

In Allegheny County, 18 similar "pedophile priest" allegations are pending against the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, based on alleged abuses from the 1950s through 1994.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. agreed last year to hear the cases, which were filed against the diocese instead of against individual priests. Plaintiffs said diocesan officials conspired to cover up the priests' misconduct, and the victims only learned of the conspiracy in recent years.

Wettick agreed the plaintiffs should "have their day in court," but in March he put the lawsuits on hold while the Philadelphia case went before the state's highest court.

Lower courts throughout the state have issued a mishmash of rulings, making the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case the last word on many of the cases.

"Obviously we're very pleased," said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese spokesman. Diocesan attorney William Pietragallo said Wettick likely will dismiss the local cases based on the new precedent.

Clergy molestation suits are also pending against the Catholic dioceses of Greensburg and Altoona-Johnstown.

Richard Serbin, an Altoona attorney who represents victims in most of the pending suits, said many of the older suits probably are doomed.

"Now the court has to look at each case one by one, to see which ones fall within the narrow legal parameters set up by this lead case in Philadelphia," Serbin said. "There's no question this will have a chilling effect. It's a travesty of justice. ... Our state's archaic statute of limitations law needs to be reformed."

Serbin said studies of victims of childhood abuse have shown they often do not come to terms with their pain until decades after the crimes happen.

In many of the pending cases, attorneys filed suit against the dioceses for permitting the abuse to continue. The court ruled that was improper.

"This law ... protects only the predators, and those who protect them," Serbin said.

Rob Egan, secretary for communications for the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, said diocesan officials were pleased but not complacent.

"We remain committed to offering an [investigative] process for those who may have been victims of sexual abuse by priests, regardless of when the acts may have occurred," Egan said in a prepared statement.

An official at the Greensburg Catholic Diocese said attorneys there haven't seen the case and could not offer comment.