LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Catholic archdiocese of Los Angeles released thousands of pages of files on Thursday relating to child molestation by priests, part of a 2007 civil court settlement, and apologized again for the abuse.

"The 2013 public release of the files of clergy who were subject of the 2007 global settlement concludes a sad and shameful chapter in the history of our local church," the archdiocese said in a statement.

The files were made public more than a week after church records relating to 14 priests were unsealed as part of a separate civil suit, showing that church officials plotted to conceal the molestations from law enforcement as late as 1987.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)