News reports say cardinal has said he was assaulted over abuse crisis

Published: 2007-12-05

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony told archdiocesan priests in October that he was assaulted during the summer by a man who was angry over the church's sexual abuse scandal, according to reports from priests who attended the annual meeting. The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and New York Times reported Dec. 5 that Cardinal Mahony talked about the assault during an Oct. 1 priests' pastoral meeting, as an illustration of the toll the abuse scandal has taken on everyone in the church. The three news organizations each quoted several priests confirming that Cardinal Mahony had described being knocked down and beaten or kicked by a man who shouted obscenities and made angry statements about sexual abuse by priests. The Los Angeles Daily News broke the story Dec. 4. Carolina Guevara, archdiocesan spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, declined to comment to any of the publications or to Catholic News Service.

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