Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

California Priest Held On Sexual Assault Charges

Aired February 19, 2002 - 06:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A Roman Catholic priest from California is being held as a fugitive in Connecticut, as he awaits his day in court. The priest is wanted in California on charges he had improper sexual relations with a teenage boy.

Reporter Leon Collins of our affiliate WTNH has the story, and the Catholic church's new approach to the problem of pedophilia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEON COLLINS, WTNH: Father John Gatzak of the Hartford Archdiocese says society's views on how to deal with pedophilia have changed over the past 20 years. Father Gatzak says we used to think it could be cured or that it was a matter of moral choice.

FATHER JOHN GATZAK, HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT ARCHDIOCESE: Then you could reassign this priest to another parish, because after all, it was a choice. And if with the proper will power to say no, you could avoid this temptation in the future. We realize that's no longer the case. That's not our understanding of pedophilia today.

COLLINS: However, Father Gatzak says the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops now has a recommended course of action when priests cross the line. When Father Oscar Polias (ph) recently checked into Hartford Hospital's Institute of Living (ph), very few people knew he was there for treatment until this past weekend, when Hartford police arrested the California priest on charges he sexually assaulted a teenage boy in his West coast parish.

Father Gatzak says nowadays church officials agree the first step is to remove the priest from his ministry and get him treatment.

GATZAK: The church then certainly tries its best to cooperate with authorities in the investigation. It does whatever is necessary. Also, the church will respond to minister to the family -- to the victim and to the families of the victim.

COLLINS: However, it appears that state laws and autonomy at the diocesan level sometimes both play a role in determining how to handle allegations of this nature.

BISHOP STEVEN BLAIR, STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA: By California law, we do not have to and did not -- were not required to inform the police.

COLLINS: Father Gatzak says it is most difficult for the church and its followers to recover from a betrayal of trust.

GATZAK: These cases of sexual abuse of children go against the very grain of who we are as church. And that's why there are so painful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report from Leon Collins of our affiliate WTNH.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com