Bishop Raymond Lahey, shown with Ronald Martin on Aug. 7, announcing a settlement in a sex abuse lawsuit against the Antigonish Diocese. (CBC)

The bishop of a Roman Catholic diocese in Nova Scotia has resigned after overseeing a $15-million settlement with people who said they were sexually abused by priests dating back to 1950.

Raymond Lahey, 69, announced Saturday he is stepping down as bishop of the diocese of Antigonish. In a letter to parishioners, he said he needed time for "personal renewal."

A representative of the church, Father Paul Abbass, said Lahey's resignation doesn't mean the church is reconsidering the settlement.

"We wouldn't want in any way to convey that there is any second thinking or any considerations that would jeopardize what is for us — and for him — an extraordinary piece of our ministry," Abbass told CBC News Monday.

The multimillion-dollar compensation deal has been hailed as the first time the Roman Catholic Church has apologized and set up a compensation package for complainants without fighting the charges in court.

When Lahey announced the deal on Aug. 7 at a news conference in Halifax, he also issued an apology to the victims of sexual abuse.

Appointed in 2003

"I want them to know how terribly sorry we are, how wrong this abuse was and how we are now trying to right these past wrongs," he said at the time.

Lahey has presided over the diocese since 2003, when he was appointed by Pope John Paul II.

The Vatican has accepted Lahey's resignation.

The archbishop of Halifax, Anthony Mancini, will oversee the Antigonish diocese until a replacement for Lahey is named.

Prior to his appointment in Antigonish, Lahey, a Newfoundland native, served as bishop for the diocese of St. George's in Newfoundland. He was also a professor of theology at Memorial University in St. John's.

Lahey is a graduate of the Saint Paul University seminary in Ottawa, the Gregorian University in Rome and Cambridge University in England.