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Victim Of Priest Abuse Wants Changes To System

Local Man Meets With Bishop Pilla

POSTED: 5:45 p.m. EDT June 10, 2002

CLEVELAND -- The pressure is on for Cleveland Bishop Anthony Pilla and others who are meeting this week in Dallas to restore faith in the Catholic Church.


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The church officials are gathering to decide what to do about priests who sexually abuse children.

NewsChannel5's Tony Gaskins put that question to a man who was 14 years old when a priest violated his trust.

Despite intense counseling, Chris Kodger said that he still carries the deep wounds inflicted by a sexually abusive encounter with his priest 21 years ago.

"The way they dealt with it in the past -- they considered people (who) got hurt a liability and an embarrassment, but not the perverts," he said. "And there's all kinds of places they send perverts to get help; there's no place for the victims."

But Kodger now believes that the church is doing the right thing for victims of sexual abuse. So instead of filing lawsuits, he is turning the other cheek to help other victims.

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	Victim Reacts

On Friday, he sat down with Pilla looking for assurances that the diocese will never again turn its back on children abused by priests.

"There were mistakes in the past," Kodger said. "Bishop Pilla apologized, and he realizes there were mistakes. I (don't want) all these mistakes to happen anymore -- they've got to stop. I'm satisfied in this diocese that's what will happen."

Past victims like Kodger and the rest of the world will watch to see what policy the bishops will come up with to deal with abusive priests. What must the bishops do to restore faith? NewsChannel5 asked veteran public relations agent Mike Rogers what he would advise if asked by the church.

"Don't wait for the media to call you -- you call them," Rogers said. "Don't react. Take the lead in the story. Cover-ups haven't worked since Watergate. It's the cover-up that's hurt them."

The bishops' meetings in Dallas start Wednesday. Whatever policy they recommend will be sent to the Vatican.

Previous Stories:

May 30, 2002: Bishop Establishes Zero-Tolerance Sex-Abuse Policy
May 6, 2002: Bishop Apologizes For Handling Of Sex Scandal
April 10, 2002: Lawyer Says Bishop's Words Point To Cover-Up
April 3, 2002: Bishop Pilla Offers To Resign His Post
March 27, 2002: Bishop Pilla 'Angry' Over Sex Allegations Against Priests
March 26, 2002: Local Commission Will Investigate Abuse By Priests