Pion-nucleus scattering cross sections are calculated by solving a Schrödinger equation reduced from the Klein-Gordon equation. Local potentials are assumed, and phenomenological potential parameters are searched energy-dependently for π − + 12 C system so as to reproduce not only elastic differential cross sections but also total elastic, reaction and total cross sections at 13 pion incident energies from 120 to 766 MeV. The real and imaginary parts of the local potentials thus obtained are shown to satisfy the dispersion relation. The imaginary part of the potentials as a function of the pion energy is found to peak near the ∆(1232)-resonance energy. The strong absorption radius of the pion projectile with incident energies near the ∆-resonance region is found to be about 1.6A 1/3 fm, which is consistent with previous studies of the region where the decay of the ∆'s takes place in nuclei. The phenomenological local potentials are then compared with the local potentials exactly phase-shift equivalent to Kisslinger potentials for pion energies near the ∆-resonance. PACS number: 24.10.Ht, 25.40.Ny, 25.80.Dj 1