A sexual abuse victim campaigning to bring paedophile priests to justice said yesterday's award was a significant step further in forcing the Catholic Church take responsibility for rogue elements in the clergy.
The award to Mr A follows another payout, of £330,000, to a man named Simon Grey, who also suffered abuse at the hands of Fr Clonan.
Campaigner Donald O'Keefe - not his real name - who is originally from Coventry, said he thought subsequent awards would cost the Church millions of pounds.
Now living in Scotland, Mr O'Keefe said the scale of the payout in Mr A's case meant more blame was now being attributed to the Catholic Church than previously.
"With these cases the Church takes it right to the wire in denying responsibility," he said. "More blame is being apportioned now, and at least people are seeing that. The Church has been saying, 'What happened is nothing to do with us, it's a matter between yourself and the accuser'.
"The court is now saying to the Church, 'You knew what was going on and you failed to act'."
Mr O'Keefe was awarded about £30,000 by the Church for suffering abuse at the hands of Father Eric Taylor at the Father Hudson's children's home in Coleshill, Warwickshire.
Taylor was jailed in 1998 after being convicted of 18 sexual offences which occurred in the 1950s and 1960s.
Another compensation claim against the Archbishop of Birmingham is currently making its way through the High Court, expected to proceed following the outcome of the Clonan case.
The alleged victim, a married businessman in his 30s, claims he was abused at the age of 11 for up to two years by another Coventry-based Roman Catholic priest.
