Cardinal Bernard F. Law pledged last week to give the information to local police departments and district attorneys. The archdiocese did not disclose the number of names reported.

"None of the individuals being reported is currently in active service in the archdiocese," spokeswoman Donna M. Morrissey said in a brief statement.

A spokesman for the Suffolk County district attorney's office said they received a package of information that included the names of 10 priests or former priests.

Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley's office confirmed it received "preliminary information," but nothing that would spark an investigation.

Earlier this month, Law had said the archdiocese would report sexual abuse to authorities, not just to church officials as the Vatican had ordered. At that time, he said his policy was not retroactive.

Law said after reflection, he realized abusers "still exist, and they still exist with that problem, and I don't have police powers." He said he couldn't say how many priests have been accused of sexual misconduct, but said no priest known to be guilty of such abuse would hold any position in the archdiocese.

Last week, 10,000 court documents were released detailing how church leaders continued to support defrocked priest John J. Geoghan, even after warnings from doctors and allegations of sexual abuse of children.

Geoghan, 66, was convicted Jan. 18 of indecent assault on a 10-year-old boy and faces two more criminal trials. He's also named in 84 civil lawsuits related to alleged abuse.

The Archdiocese of Boston has faced scrutiny since it became publicly known that Geoghan was assigned to pastor St. Julia's Parish in Weston even though he had been removed from two other parishes after being accused of molesting children.

AP-ES-01-30-02 2244EST