LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By David Pierson, Times Staff Writer
A man protesting the Los Angeles Archdiocese's handling of the clergy sexual abuse scandal was arrested Sunday after he handcuffed himself to the chair used by Cardinal Roger Mahony during 10 a.m. Mass.
The incident happened while Mahony was standing a few feet away at the altar and had just delivered a homily to 2,500 congregants about how the archdiocese is dealing with the controversy.
The protester, James C. Robertson, 58, of Mount Washington, was part of a group of about 200 victims and their supporters who had demonstrated outside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels by tying crime scene tape around themselves and the church's perimeter.
The protesters — from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP — staged the demonstration to commemorate clergy sex abuse victims who have committed suicide and to demand the archdiocese release all the names of clergy who molested children over the years. Leaders of the group said they neither authorized nor had prior knowledge of Robertson's actions.
The archdiocese has released the names of 211 of the 244 priests identified as accused abusers. Mahony has declined to name the remaining 33 priests because they have requested protection under privacy laws.