By JASON HEWLETT
Daily News Staff Reporter
From the Bandura family:
We send our heartfelt prayers and hopes for healing to Bishop Monroe.
We are deeply grateful to members of the community for their expressions of understanding and forgiveness.
Our family is together in our love and support for John.
The city’s Catholic community is praying for Bishop David Monroe’s recovery along with the soul of the man accused of attacking him, the vicar general of the Diocese of Kamloops said Tuesday.
“We’re just going to take it one day at a time, listen to the doctors and see where it goes,” said Msgr. Jerry Desmond.
Monroe, 69, continues to rest and heal in Royal Inland Hospital following a vicious attack inside the rectory of Sacred Heart Cathedral on Friday night.
Desmond doesn’t doubt the bishop will suffer some kind of long-term damage. But how severe is anyone’s guess, he said.
“I don’t think anyone can go through a beating like that and not have some kind of long-lasting effect,” said Desmond.
What Monroe needs is to be left in peace, he said. Parishioners have been asked to join in prayer not only for Monroe, but also for his accused attacker.
John Bandura, 30, made his first court appearance Monday in connection with the assault. He is charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and mischief.
Bandura’s family issued a statement Tuesday saying they’re praying for the bishop’s healing.
Desmond said the family’s comments are appreciated.
Monroe was assaulted when he opened the door to the rectory Friday night.
The court heard Bandura’s family took him to RIH earlier that day concerned about his mental health, but that he broke through a glass door and left.
“Our family is together in our love and support for John,” his family said in the statement.
Monroe was found bleeding and unconscious on the floor of the rectory. A priest heard him yelling and ran to help, but dislocated his shoulder when he fell down the stairs.
Desmond attended Monroe at the hospital that night. He said the beating was the most brutal he’s ever seen.
Police believe Bandura swam across the Thompson River to the G&M Trailer Park where his father lives and hid in a shed.
Bandura is undergoing a 30-day psychiatric assessment.
Desmond has taken over Monroe’s duties while he recovers. He said day-to-day goings on at the church have not been affected.