Report: Mahony tells priests he was assaulted near L.A.'s cathedral

Follow-up: LAPD begins investigation of Cardinal Mahony assault claim.

It happened last July, it took him a month to heal, and he didn't tell his priests until October:

Cardinal Roger Mahony was physically assaulted by a man enraged by the Catholic Church's sexual-abuse scandal within days of a record settlement with hundreds of victims, the Daily News has learned.

Mahony, 71, revealed the attack during an annual conference in October before hundreds of stunned priests, saying a man assaulted him because of the scandal, according to four priests who attended the conference.

News of the assault comes as the bulk of the church's $660million settlement with victims began being paid out Monday, with more than $500million in checks going out in the mail. 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 Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles, and it took the cardinal about a month to heal, said the Rev. Sal Pilato, principal at Junipero Serra Catholic High School in Gardena. The cardinal was dropping off letters at a mailbox when he was assaulted, priests said.

... Mahony told the priests that after his attacker recognized him, the man began shouting expletives and knocked him to the ground, said another priest who asked not be identified.

Details of Mahony's narration:

Mahony was telling the priests they all had a price to pay for the sexual abuses perpetrated by their brethren when he relayed the story of the assault as an example of the personal toll he's endured, several priests said.

Bruised after the attack, he said it gave him a deeper understanding of the suffering the victims of the sex scandal have endured, the priests said.

"The main message was that his wounds healed within a month, bruises and all, but the victims of child abuse are still suffering after many years, that their wounds are far deeper than what he experienced," Pilato said.

...

Mahony also revealed at the conference that he thought he might be attacked earlier when tensions over the allegations of sexual abuses by priests were at their peak, said the priest who did not want to be identified.

The priest said he thinks Mahony and others mismanaged the scandal by not removing priests who were sexually abusing children sooner and failing to settle cases earlier. That lack of action has damaged the church's reputation and cost it millions of dollars, he said.

Still, the fact that Mahony was attacked over the scandal and chose not to make it public impressed the priest. - Daily News

Reuters follows-up here.

Yes, it is unfortunate that Mahony was attacked. The story prompts a couple questions for me, however: if Mahony indeed wanted this event to remain private, why did he tell his convoked priests about it? He couldn't think that it wouldn't get around. Second, if it took him a month to heal from his injuries, why did no one notice?

update: I should be more specific: I'm not trying to call into question Mahony's claim that he was attacked. I'm just scratching my head about his deciding to keep it private and then, months later, revealing it among his presbyterate. It strikes me as an imprudent move, if for no other reason than it would seem to promote this sort of (criminal) behavior by announcing that he didn't decide to press charges.

update 2: apologies to those who tried to visit this post earlier and couldn't find it. blogger appears to be playing games with it. I'm trying to resolve that issue now.

update 3: follow-up: LAPD begins investigation of Cardinal Mahony assault claim.