MONTREAL – A judge has signed off on a landmark agreement to compensate victims of sex abuse that occurred for decades within a Roman Catholic organization.

The $18-million settlement — the largest in Quebec and one lawyers say could even be the largest ever in Canada — was officially enacted as Quebec Superior Court Justice Claude Auclair signed the agreement today.

Victims will be paid by July 24 and will be awarded an indemnity ranging from $10,000 and $250,000, depending on the level of abuse they endured.

But there has been anger from victims as many of the 223 claimants have been forced to make their case before adjudicators and describe the abuse they faced.

The Congregation of Holy Cross has issued a release expressing condolences for nearly five decades of abuse.

Jean-Pierre Aumont, the Canadian provincial superior of the congregation, apologized for the suffering caused by teachers and staff and said it should have never happened.

The class-action lawsuit was formally launched in 2008 and a settlement was reached in October 2011.

In the end 206 victims and, in some cases, their parents, will wind up sharing nearly $13 million. The other $5 million will go to lawyer fees, adjudicators’ honorariums, and other expenses.

Seventeen people’s claims have not been accepted.

Victims hope the agreement will lead to other ones in Quebec and elsewhere for sex-abuse victims from other congregations.