Help Line for Victims of Clergy Abuse

The Roman Catholic Church opened a special telephone “help line” for victims of child abuse by the clergy. The line went into operation the same day a 71-year-old priest, Brendan Smyth, started a 12-year jail term for a series of child molestation offenses committed over 36 years. Judge Cyril Kelly said the case, involving 74 counts of indecent and sexual assaults, was one of the most serious dealt with by his Dublin court. Smyth, a former member of the Norbertine Order, was extradited from British-ruled Northern Ireland in March after serving four years for abusing children there.