BOSTON, Mass. (AP) — The two top stories of 2003 in Massachusetts marked the end of one saga and the dawning of a new one.

A ruling by the state’s highest court that granted same-sex couples the right to marry put Massachusetts at the epicenter of the nation’s debate on gay marriage, certain to continue being debated throughout 2004 and beyond.

This year also marked several healing developments in the ongoing church abuse scandal that first erupted nearly two years ago.

A new archbishop, Sean P. O’Malley, arrived on the scene this summer in Boston in the brown robes of a simple friar, dedicated to healing, and quickly forged an $85 million settlement with more than 500 people who said they had been molested by priests.

And because of the efforts of the man known as “Archbishop Sean,” the story of the scandal in Massachusetts churches, which had created a furor worldwide, appeared to be winding down.

Associated Press newspaper and broadcast members were split over which story topped the headlines, but the edge went to the Supreme Judicial Court’s gay marriage ruling in mid-November.

Seven gay and lesbian couples sued the state seeking the right to marry. The court’s ruling was long anticipated, and for those looking for the court to break new ground, the justices didn’t disappoint.

In the ensuing weeks, advocates for the gay and lesbian community and Massachusetts lawmakers have debated whether the court was ordering the state to allow same-sex couples to marry — or if the court would be satisfied with civil unions.

The ruling was applauded as a civil rights milestone by gay activists. Plaintiffs in the suit were ecstatic, celebrating with immediate proposals of marriage to each other.

But there were plenty of critics, too, starting from the top, with President George W. Bush condemning the ruling and commenting that the court “had overreached its bounds.”

It wasn’t long before politicos at the Statehouse began to talk about whether the court would be satisfied by the passage of a “civil union” law like that passed in Vermont.