OAKLAND, Calif.—A San Francisco woman, who says she was molested by the Oakland priest at the center of a case which has raised questions about Pope Benedict XVI's handling of sexually abusive clergy members, described in vivid terms on Sunday how she was sexually abused and later intimidated by her attacker.

The woman, Melinda Costello, said she had been abused for several years, beginning at age 7, as a parishioner in nearby Fremont, Calif., where the Rev. Stephen Kiesle was working at a church as a seminarian in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Costello, now 48 and on disability because of arthritis, says that Kiesle—who was ordained as a priest in 1972—first playfully invited her to sit on his lap, part of a youthful demeanor that he fostered, she said, including wearing purple tennis shoes in church.

“;He was considered to be the Pied Piper,”; Costello recalled in an interview. “;He was a kid. And who doesn't like a big kid?”;

But Costello says Kiesle's touching and tickling soon progressed to fondling her chest and genitals. “;He told me the devil was inside me,”; she said, adding that Kiesle sometimes cast his actions as an exorcism. “;I always knew that I was uncomfortable and that it wasn't right.”;

Kiesle was convicted in 1978 of tying up and molesting two boys in another California church rectory. But he was not defrocked until 1987—despite concerns voiced to the Vatican over several years by Bishop John S. Cummins of Oakland.

Kiesle, who could not be reached for comment, served three years' probation for his 1978 conviction and underwent treatment. In 2004, he was convicted of a second sex offense—molesting a girl in 1995 in Truckee, Calif.—and sentenced to six years in prison.

He now lives in Walnut Creek, Calif., where he is registered as a sex offender. Questions about the slow pace by which Kiesle was removed from the clergy have intensified since it was learned that Benedict—then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and serving as a top Vatican official—had signed a 1985 letter telling Bishop Cummins that Kiesle's case needed more time and that the “;good of the Universal Church”; should be considered in coming to a decision. A Vatican lawyer has defended the church's handling of Kiesle's case, saying that it had acted “;expeditiously”; by its own standards and that the onus was on Bishop Cummins to make sure the priest did not abuse again.

The handling of the sexual abuse problems by the church—and the future pope—has caused deep rifts.

On Sunday, in East Longmeadow, Mass., outside Springfield, the Rev. James J. Scahill, a vociferous critic of the church's handling of sexual abuse crisis, delivered a scathing homily in which he described some in the clergy as “;felons”; and suggested that Benedict resign.

“;We must personally and collectively declare that we very much doubt the veracity of the pope and those of church authority who are defending him or even falling on the sword on his behalf,”; Scahill said in his sermon at Saint Michael's Parish. “;It is beginning to become evident that for decades, if not centuries, church leadership covered up the abuse of children and minors to protect its institutional image and the image of priesthood.”;

He said there was surely “;solid ground here for severe doubt”; about what the Vatican says it knew about the sexual abuse.

“;And if by any slimmest of chance the pope and all his bishops didn't know—they all should resign on the basis of sheer and complete ignorance, incompetence and irresponsibility,”; Scahill said.

For the last eight years, Scahill, 63, has criticized how the church and the Diocese of Springfield have handled the clergy sexual abuse crisis. His criticism began, he said in an interview after his sermon, when parishioners came to him in 2002, distraught about the crisis that roiled the Archdiocese of Boston and the Diocese of Springfield.

“;They said something has to be done, shepherd our concerns,”; Scahill said. “;That's what priests are supposed to do, be a shepherd.

Reaction to Scahill's remarks from the pulpit was mixed. One parishioner stood up and yelled “;heretic”; during the sermon and said he supported the pope. But others praised the priest.

“;I think it's very brave. You have to give him a lot of credit,”; said Jean Montana, 82, who greeted Scahill after the 10 a.m. Mass, where he received a standing ovation. “;I agree with him. I totally agree that something has to be done.”;

The Oakland diocese has been at the center of the sexual abuse controversy, and the Cathedral's grounds here—where Costello spoke with reporters on Sunday—include a small “;healing garden”; devoted to victims of such crimes. “;We remember, and we affirm,”; reads a plaque in the garden, which centered on a shattered heart-shaped stone. “;Never again.”;

Mike Brown, a spokesman for the diocese, said Kiesle was removed from active ministry in 1978.

“;For all purposes his life in the diocese was over,”; Brown said, adding that his continued membership in priesthood between 1978 and 1987 had been mischaracterized. “;It's been implied that the diocese just let him roam about as an employee, but that's not the case.”;

Brown said, however, that the diocese would be examining church paperwork and records this week to determine what role—if any—Kiesle's might have had in church activities during that period.

In Oakland, Hector Rivera, an unemployed construction worker attending services at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, said he was frustrated by the continued reports of pedophilic priests.

“;They work for God,”; Rivera said, his 4-year-old son standing beside him. “;They shouldn't be doing it. And its not just here, it's everywhere. If they've got that thing in them, they shouldn't be becoming a priest.”;

Nearby, about two dozen protesters stood in a steady rain and brisk wind holding placards with messages like “;Structural Reform Now”; and “;Protect Children; Defrock Priests.”;

Mary Barnes, a nurse from Berkeley, Calif., said she believed Benedict should step down for failing to lead in a time of crisis.

“;To have the highest levels of our church giving out excuses for not protecting our children is unforgivable,”; Barnes said, holding a sign with a passage from the New Testament, which says that there is nothing hidden that will not be known. “;It's the farthest thing imaginable from the message of Jesus,”; she said.

For Costello, who settled a civil suit with the church over her abuse at Kiesle's hands several years ago, it took years to come to grips with her abuse, she said. No longer a Catholic, she said she could not even tell anyone about the attacks until she was safely into her adulthood.

“;I was terrified,”; she said. “;He was God.”;

Jesse McKinley reported from Oakland, Calif, and Katie Zezima from East Long Meadow, Mass.