SEATTLE, Washington - A US Jesuit order has agreed to pay $166.1 million to compensate nearly 500 people who claim to have been sexually abused by priests, media reports said Friday.

The Oregon Province, the Northwest chapter of the Jesuits, agreed the payout -- one of the biggest by a religious organization in the United States -- as part of a bankruptcy proceeding, the Seattle Times reported.

"It's been a long journey" to reach the settlement, Dorothea Skalicky, 42, who was abused as a little girl by a Jesuit priest in Idaho, told the newspaper.

"I think a lot of people have this stigma (that) everyone is suing everybody these days.... But because of these settlements, hopefully, (the church) is making substantial changes to prevent future abuses," she added.

Patrick Lee, head of the Oregon Province -- an order of the Catholic Society of Jesus, or Jesuits -- declined to confirm details of the settlement.

"Due to the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province's current Chapter 11 bankruptcy status, as well as out of respect for the judicial process and all involved, we will not comment on today's announcement," Lee said.

"The province continues to work with the creditors committee to conclude the bankruptcy process as promptly as possible," he added in a statement received by AFP.

Abuse victims have been watching the case closely, including Clarita Vargas, who said the announcement marked "a day of reckoning and justice."

"I feel that nothing can compensate for the loss of being whole and being allowed to be a child and growing up in a healthy environment," she told the Oregonian newspaper.

"But this will start us and continue to help us on our path to healing," she added.