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Rev. Pfleger On His Alleged Stalker: 'It Got To Be Really Crazy'

CHICAGO (CBS) – Father Michael Pfleger is opening up for the first time on television about the woman who allegedly stalked him.

Lidia Kuzniar is being held without bond, claiming her pursuit of Pfleger was part of God's plan for her to be with the fiery South Side pastor.

Pfleger says he believes his alleged stalker is mentally ill. Kuzniar was arrested several times for disrupting the pastor's Sunday services at St. Sabina.

"She would just come running to the altar and try to grab me and say she had to be with me, God told her she had to be with me, and she has nothing to lose and stay out of her way," Pfleger said Monday. "It just got to be really crazy."

It was scary, he admits.

"We'd try to close the office at the end of the night and she'd (go) limp on the floor and said she wasn't moving," Pfleger says.

At one point, Pfleger says two members of the church who are psychologists tried to talk to the 55-year-old woman from Deerfield.

"They, along with the police, both said this is now out of control and it could be very violent to herself or somebody else," he says.

Eight days ago, Kuzniar allegedly showed up again at a Sunday mass, violating an order of protection. She was arrested, and a judge ordered her held without bond.

"This whole thing is very sad, and I hope she gets the help," Pfleger says.

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