Mahoney Tells Priests He Was Assaulted, CBS 2, December 4, 2007

Mahoney Tells Priests He Was Assaulted

CBS 2
December 4, 2007

http://cbs2.com/local/Roger.Mahony.Cardinal.2.601971.html

Within days of a record settlement with hundreds of victims, Cardinal Roger Mahony was assaulted by a man enraged by the Catholic Church's sexual-abuse scandal, it was reported Tuesday.

Mahony apparently decided not to go public with the assault. Police officials told the Daily News they were unaware of any such incident (file).

Mahony, 71, talked about the attack during an annual conference in October before hundreds of stunned priests, four priests who attended the gathering at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles told the Daily News.

News of the assault emerged Monday as the bulk of the church's $660 million settlement with victims began being paid out, with more than $500 million in checks going out in the mail, the newspaper reported.

The settlement with 508 alleged victims was approved by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge July 16.

The attack on Mahony occurred in July near the cathedral, and it took the cardinal about a month to heal, the Rev. Sal Pilato, principal at Junipero Serra Catholic High School in Gardena, told the Daily News.

The cardinal was dropping off letters at a mailbox when he was assaulted, priests told the newspaper.

The cardinal said that after his attacker recognized him, the man began shouting expletives and knocked him to the ground, a priest told the Daily News.

Bruised after the attack, Mahony said it gave him a deeper understanding of the suffering the sex scandal victims have endured, priests told the newspaper. It was not known whether Mahony's attacker was a victim.

Mahony apparently decided not to go public with the assault. Police officials told the Daily News they were unaware of any such incident.

Mahony declined to comment on the reports.