Priest attacked during church service for healing says he did not know assailant

A Washington State priest whose assault was captured on a church livestream during a service devoted to healing said he did not know his attacker and had never seen him before.

Rev. David Gaines of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane, Wash., said Thursday that the alleged assailant was brought to the service by people who had taken him off the street and believed he could “find some healing from whatever he’s struggling with.”

Worshippers intervened and restrained the 40-year-old man until authorities arrived, a Spokane Police Department spokesman said.

He was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor assault and is being held on outstanding felony warrants, according to the spokesman.

The priest said he suffered minor injuries.

The police spokesman said it is not clear what prompted the attack, which happened at 6:20 p.m. Tuesday during what Gaines described as a “Novena” service in which churchgoers pray for healing over nine days. 

Gaines had just given the bishop his prayer card and knelt when he said he saw a man running toward the church sanctuary.

“We made eye contact right at that moment,” Gaines said. “He looked very upset and kind of intense.”

In a video of the assault, the man — wearing shorts and a sweatshirt — can be seen appearing to strike Gaines before a brief struggle. 

“It’s alright, just calm down,” Gaines said, as the man appears to grimace. 

“I don’t know where he hit me, and I literally blocked that out, but his left hand was punching at me a bunch of times, and I kept swiping at it with my hand,” Gaines said.

Several parishioners can be seen rushing to the sanctuary before a security guard helps escort him away.

“It’s definitely not something I expected to happen as a priest,” Gaines said. “God allows these sorts of things to happen, and then we want to figure out how to use it for some good.”

Gaines added that he has a tender place in his heart for the man, whom he said “clearly needs healing.”