Family feels betrayed by Catholic Church [Victim/freeper demands Pilla resign, set to depose him]

Christopher Kodger wants Bishop Anthony M. Pilla of the Diocese of Cleveland to resign.

``Bishop Pilla is an evil, wicked man, and I demand his resignation,'' said Kodger, 35, of Alaska. ``If he and other leaders who participated in a cover-up don't resign, then we, good Catholics, must starve them out and take back our church. I believe this is a direct mandate of God.''

Kodger said he was molested by the Rev. F. James Mulica in 1981 at the Chapel of the Divine Word in Kirtland in Lake County, which is part of the Cleveland Diocese.

He returned to Northeast Ohio over the weekend ``to speak for the victims of sexual abuse by priests'' after a television report was aired about his situation.

Diocesan officials confirm they had knowledge of Kodger's claim of abuse, but deny that Pilla knowingly moved Mulica or any priest prone to pedophilia from parish to parish. Both Pilla and Mulica declined to comment.

Allegations of sex abuse within the Roman Catholic Church gained national attention in January during the trial of a former Boston priest who was accused of abusing more than 100 children while being shuffled from parish to parish. He was convicted of indecent assault and battery and sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for fondling a 10-year-old boy.

Since then, the number of allegations against priests throughout the nation has grown, and the public has been incensed that some church leaders apparently kept quiet about the problem and failed to resolve it.

In the midst of the scandal, some U.S. dioceses have paid out millions of dollars to settle victims' lawsuits. In others, allegations of abuse are being dealt with by the criminal justice system. And several dozen priests out of more than 47,000 nationwide have been suspended or forced to resign.

In the Cleveland Diocese, which has about 340 priests serving an eight-county area, including Summit, Medina and Wayne counties, 12 priests have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office.

The Diocese of Youngstown announced last week new allegations of past abuse involving five of its priests. The diocese, which serves six counties, including Stark and Portage, did not release the names of the priests or any information to indicate how many of those priests are in active ministry.

Although all of the recently reported cases are attached to incidents dating back 20 years or more, Kodger's is different because his was reported to the Cleveland Diocese and the Lake County prosecutor when it allegedly occurred in 1981.

His parents, Donald and Suzan Kodger of Brunswick, said they agreed to allow their then 14-year-old son to help Mulica with yardwork at the rectory so Mulica could counsel him about the importance of obeying parents.

Suzan Kodger said that while the family was on a camping vacation in Pennsylvania, she told her son to stay away from a culvert that contained a drainpipe. Despite her request, he and his cousin rode their bikes in the culvert, and Christopher Kodger fell, tearing the ligaments in his knee.

``I was so upset that Chris had not listened to me, and I was talking to Father Mulica about it because we considered him a friend. We played bridge with him at our house and at the rectory,'' Suzan Kodger said. ``Father Mulica suggested Chris could help with yardwork at the rectory and they could talk.

``So, when he called late one afternoon and said, `It's a really nice day, we can do some yardwork, swim and talk and I'll bring him home around 9 (p.m.),' I didn't think anything of it.... Now, I bear a lot of guilt.''

Suzan and Donald Kodger said their son went to the rectory about 4:30 p.m. When Donald Kodger picked his son up about 9 p.m., he learned what had happened.

Christopher Kodger, who was still recovering from his knee injury, said he and Mulica went to a convenience store, where Mulica bought beer. After returning to the rectory, the two went swimming in the pool there.

``After we finished swimming, we were sitting in the kitchen and he brings out a case of beer. We started drinking and he gets me pretty drunk. He reaches over and pulls my shorts down'' and began sodomizing the teen with his hand, Christopher Kodger said.

``He chases me into the back of the house and tackles me down to the ground. I don't know how, but I got away. I ran back into the kitchen, grabbed the keys to his car off the counter and jumped in his car and locked the door.

``He's pounding... pound, pound, pound,'' said Christopher Kodger, motioning with his fist. ``He's saying, `Unlock the door.' He's like a monster. I opened the garage door with the automatic opener and backed out of the garage. And I don't even know how to drive. I made it around the corner and parked in the church parking lot across the street. I figured my dad would be coming soon.''

Meanwhile, Donald Kodger got a phone call from Mulica, saying Chris had taken his car. Kodger asked why. Mulica said he didn't know. Kodger asked if he had called the police. Mulica said no. Kodger said he would be right over and went directly to the rectory.

``As Father Mulica opened the front door for me, Chris was coming in the side door -- apparently, he had seen my car pull into the driveway. I asked what was going on and Father Mulica said, `Don't worry about it. Chris is back. Let's just forget about it,' '' Donald Kodger said. ``I really didn't know what to think. I noticed that the house was in disarray and that Father Mulica's shirt was on inside out and his collar was skewed.

``When we got into the car, I turned to Chris and said `What really happened in there?' ''

When they got home, his mother was informed, and the Kodgers began trying to figure out what to do. They knew if they called the police, the church would be involved in a scandal. They called Donald Kodger's parents for advice. Call the bishop, they said.

``I called the bishop and was told he was asleep and couldn't be disturbed. I explained what had happened and said `either I can talk to the bishop or I can call the police,' '' Donald Kodger said.

Kodger contends that Pilla asked ``what do I have to do to keep you quiet until morning?'' The Kodgers asked Pilla to find Mulica.

``We didn't know what he was capable of doing. We didn't know if he would come to our house or what. Chris was hysterical,'' Suzan Kodger said.

The Kodgers said Pilla called them about 2 or 3 a.m., saying that they had found Mulica in a bar and that he had admitted attacking their son. Pilla immediately removed Mulica from his post at the parish and sent him to treatment.

In subsequent weeks, the Kodgers talked with the Lake County prosecutor, who said that Mulica would likely spend no time in jail and that Chris would have to tell his story in open court. The Kodgers didn't want to risk more damage to their son, knowing Mulica would likely get a slap on the wrist.

Instead of prosecuting, they entered into a settlement agreement with the diocese. The agreement included a monetary settlement of $43,500 and an assurance that Mulica would not be reassigned to a position with access to children.

``Looking back, I wish we would have prosecuted or gone to the police. At least Chris would have seen someone fighting for him,'' Donald Kodger said.

Less than five months after Chris was assaulted, the Kodgers said, Mulica was reassigned to the Chapel of the Divine Word. They said they received a letter, addressed to parishioners, inviting them to a welcome back party for Mulica. After they told Pilla that if Mulica returned, they would meet him at the county line with the sheriff, Mulica did not return, they said.

Robert Tayek, spokesman for the diocese, said he is not aware of a reassignment of Mulica to Divine Word, but pending the prosecutor's investigation, the diocese is not releasing biographical information on any priest. He said at the core of the Kodgers' dispute is whether they objected to Mulica being reassigned to another parish in 1983.

The Kodgers said they were not aware that he was being assigned at a parish at that time, and certainly would not have agreed had they known.

``Why wouldn't we object, if a sodomite was being put back with other prey?'' asked Christopher Kodger. ``There is no way we would agree that it was OK to send him back to a parish. They ruined my life and they're saying we didn't mind if they ruined a few more.''

Tayek said the Rev. Edward Weist, who was secretary for clergy and religious personnel in 1981, made it clear in a letter last week to Pilla that the Kodgers did not object to Mulica's reassignment in 1983. Weist was motivated to write the letter after Fox 8 News in Cleveland broke the Kodgers' story on Thursday. It was reported that Mulica was assigned to St. Jude in Elyria and Holy Redeemer in Cleveland, and that both parishes had schools. The dates of his assignment to those parishes could not be confirmed.

In his letter, Weist stated that he ministered to the Kodger family and treated them ``with compassion and dignity.

``The diocese sent Father Mulica for treatment within a day or two of the alleged transgression. He was out of the diocese for more than two years in which he served as chaplain of an alcohol rehabilitation center in the Detroit area.

``Upon the advice of professional counselors and after conferring with the Kodger family, Father Mulica was returned to ministry in our diocese in 1983. He served at a distant parish ministering mainly to persons with alcohol-related problems.''

Weist also expressed distress ``that others apparently do not believe that we did our best based on the information and advice available.''

The Kodgers say they feel betrayed by the church and its leadership. And they feel responsible for anyone else who may have been molested by Mulica. Christopher Kodger said he is disgusted that church leadership has not moved quickly with a zero tolerance policy that immediately removes any priest involved in sexual misconduct with a child.

``They have decided not to abide in justice because they choose not to root out this most wicked of evils,'' Christopher Kodger said. ``It is time for the good Catholics to stand up for the children. Every parish should have a special collection strictly for the victims because it seems that the church is concerned only with protecting the perverts and sodomites.

``Every diocese headed by a bishop who is guilty of providing further prey to a pervert must immediately resign or parishioners must cease offering one dollar. Every dollar that a person would have normally offered should go into a special collection for the victims.''

Any discussion of the Cleveland Diocese would be incomplete if its link to the Land Dyke movement was not mentioned. I am not sure all the links work anymore, but a couple of years back, the same person was the contact person for both official Diocese of Cleveland Gay and Lesbian events and for the Egg Moon Land Dyke Farm. From an old Akron Al thread:

Cleveland Diocese Linked to Radical Lesbian Group
Egg Moon Farm Website ^ Cleveland Diocese Website | May 19, 2003 | Akron Al

Posted on 05/19/2003 10:32:27 PM EDT by Akron Al

The following email has been flying around the Cleveland area since this weekend. It appears that the Diocesan contact for a recent Cleveland Diocese Gay and Lesbian Retreat is also the contact for the Egg Moon Farm, a lesbian compound described at Lesbian.com as "Land Dykes."

Here you go:

If you thought the Cleveland Diocese Gay and Lesbian group was out of control before, you will not believe this one. The gay group at the diocese, futurechurch, and those who hate the church remain one big incestuous mess. I apologize in advance for the disturbing nature of this e-mail, but before it is stopped it must be exposed. Please forward it to others who care about our Catholic Faith.

The Gay community has it easy in Cleveland. If you want to attend a Gay and Lesbian Day of Prayer sponsored by the Cleveland Diocese, the diocesan website will direct you to contact Judy.

If you want to attend a Land Dyke compound ( http://www.lesbian.com/landdykes/landdykes_intro.html ) at the Egg Moon Farm, you can simply call the same Judy.

Judy describes the Egg Moon Farm as follows on her homepage: http://my.en.com/~judb/ (also note the futrechurch link on her website) :

I am very involved in my community and a participate in just about every kind of group imaginable. Kimbilio Farm and the womyn's land collective, Egg Moon Farm are my favorite places and where I hang out with my favorite womyn. Egg Moon Farm has been a real adventure, moving from a funky cow pasture infested with poison ivy and thorn bushes to a comfy campground within a few years . This a testament to the hard working and dedicated womyn who believe that the ideal of community without hierarchy is possible. It has been great fun creating this place, and it even has a cozy camping cabin. I was deeply touched when a good friend made a sign for a particular corner of the collective was named for me. Camp Jud' was my first step into transforming some uninviting outdoor space into a place where we could cook food, enjoy meals and sit under the protection of a tarp to tell stories, share our lives and discuss the state of our universe. Even though we now have a first class picnic pavilion and kitchen with all the amenities, the sign remains and Camp Jud' is still a place for wimmin to gather for any kind of chores and great conversation.

The Following is From the Egg Moon Farm Website:

http://www.valkyrie.net/~kimbilio/emf.html

The Land Collective Egg Moon Farm

The story so far...of our dream of a place in Holmes County, Ohio where women can work and play and build community.

MISSION STATEMENT...The Land Collective maintains rural land to create community without hierarchy and to create a space which is accessible to all women and where each woman is empowered and valued.

Who We Are

We are about 50 women, mostly lesbians, all woman-identified, who fromed a collective in 1995 to purchase land in Holmes County, Ohio. We range in age from 20 to 70+; most of us live around Cleveland. We are diverse across race and class; however, most of the women at meetings are middle class and euro-american. We want to be more inclusive and are working to get there. About the only thing we all have in common is that we believe in miracles - we somehow gathered enough women, money and hope to buy a chunk of land. We believe that we are limited only by our imaginations.

Values We Share

We strive for open decision-making without hierarchy, using various forms of consensus process and committee work. We feel we are custodians of land for women-not just for collective women. We are strongly committed to eliminating racism, classism, and other forms of oppression withinthe group and as they affect women's access to this land.

From the beginning, we have held the collective open for any woman willing to make a commitment to the land and the group. This commitment can take any form - perhaps contributing skills, tools, work shifts, monthly payments, or a lump sum payment toward a building project.

Our primary goal is to create safe, nurturing space for women. Each of us has a different vision of what that will be. We question the fear of scarcity, assuming that there are love, land, and resources enough to meet every collective woman's needs.

Things We've Done So Far

In October 1995, we bought 85 acres of farmland off TR 501, across from Kimbilio Farm, an established womens land community. We've planted trees, camped, put up a small shed, built a picnic palace, built a small cabin for women who aren't into camping, made a wildflower field, held successful womens festivals, LandFest 97,98, 99, 00 and leased land to a neighbor for organic farming. Several of us have also built tent platforms. We've held regular meetings, working through decisions on everything from getting liability insurance to planning anniversary celebrations.

Challenges We Face

In the rush to buy the land and make the payments, some important things got set aside. We want to make a land trust or non-profit legal structure to hold all or part of the land. Each season, new issues come up:will we lease land for farming this year? Will we allow hunting on the land? How will we get some space mowed for camping? And, we have big and fabulous ideas in the works. We see gardens, and gatherings, and workshops, and artisans, and space for spirituality, and...

Why We Need You

Every day, at every meeting, during every visit to the land, we are inventing women's community. It is wonderful, difficult, invigorating, draining, important work. We are asking for your input, your vision, your wisdom, your time, your experiences, your energy, your skills - yourself. Call one of the women below and talk. Come to a collective meeting or check out a committee project. Join us for a work day on the land. You are limited only by your imagination.

For more information call Sally at 216-932-0977 or Judy at 216-227-1243 or you can email at EggMoonFarm@hotmail.com

Egg Moon Farm - P.O. Box 18771 - Cleveland Heights, OH 44118-0771

The Following is From the Diocese of Cleveland Website:

http://www.dioceseofcleveland.org/gayandlesbianfamilyministry/events/index.htm

The Gay and Lesbian Catholic Community’s

Lenten Day of Prayer

Saturday, March 22, 2003, 8:00 am to 7 pm

$10.00 per person

Morning Coffee and Donuts

Lunch and Dinner Provided

If you are unable to be with us for the entire day,

join us at 4:30 PM for Mass followed by dinner.

For reservations call: Denis at 216-939-8198; Judy at

216-227-1243; or Paula at 216-696-6525 Ext. 3500

Advent Prayer Service 2nd Sunday of Advent, 2003 East side Parish >More Information Coming Soon<

Gay and Lesbian Family Ministry - Catholic Diocese of Cleveland

New Post pilla's deposition scheduled... For July nineteenth.

TRUTH WILL OUT...

I heard tell of a conversation Billy Crosby (my attny) had with their lawyer, our friend Ducatman-
He wanted to talk about limiting the scope of the deposition-

uh, right.

Then, as I hear it, "Why don't we just settle this thing."
Uh, riiiiiiiiiight...

Crosby told him we were not after just money.

Defamation lawsuits are about more than money, Bob.

They are about the TRUTH, and money.

And- this one is about the conspiracy in the Diocese of Cleveland to relocate known pedo-priests to locations where they are unknown, have easy access to the garden of little rumps, and the lies surrounding the heirarchy- and Bishop Pilla in particular.

Ducatman- NO,
we are not interested in just money. What your client said about us compounded the damage done to me as a child. (Read this as multiplicative.)
To be blamed that Mulica got more children multiplies the psychological damage to me. I pace, I spend ten hours/ day researching this issue. I have nightmares of the other raped children accusing me of not stopping your client from placing a child rapist in their midst...

Oh no, Mr. Ducatman, I am interested in far more than your client's money, but I will get it, also.
I am interested in ending the lies perpetrated and calculated by your clients against the thousands of children your client ALLOWED to be raped.

I am interested in the RICO action.

I am interested in SB 17.

I am interested in justice for the multitude of your client's victims.

I again publicly state:

Bishop Anthony Pilla- I demand your resignation.
You are a wicked and evil man, and a liar. Your moral foundation is non-existant. The prison inmates have a higher moral code than you do. You are morally bankrupt.

Do the right thing... tell the truth, finally.
Then resign with at least a modicum of dignity...
A dignity I will NOT spare you-

If not, I will push this to jury trial, in open court, and when that happens, the entire laity in Cleveland will run you out on a rail, if not stone you.
You, Sir, will be held to account, and examined...

I have looked at the evidence in this case, and I find you wanting...
You have no moral authority left, and are invalidated as a Bishop of the Catholic church, and a priest thereof by your own immoral calculated lying, and abetting known child rapists in their quest to locate further victims.

You are indeed damned.

I reiterate:

Bishop Anthony Pilla, I, Mr. Christopher Kodger, (of Homer Alaska) demand your resignation.
And your resignation I will have.
It is only a matter of time, and the simultaneous devolution of your dignity and legacy.
I demand your resignation in writing.
Delivered via certified mail.
Rest assured, I will accept it.

Mr. Ducatman- I do not think you fully comprehend what I will do to your client, and thereby- your firm, in court.
But I plan to have my day...
I think Crosby is right- The award will be several million for what your client has pulled.

What would several million do for the Kodgers? Maybe I could have running water in my house, and be able to pay for therapy...

You clearly do not understand me, but that's OK.
I do not think you are capable of understanding me- but I promise you that you will figure out some things, and soon, very soon.

The stories are being written, as I write here.

"That damned client"
Sincerely,
Christopher D. Kodger
chris@letusprey.org

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