Cell phone use during mass

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I’m not going to place any value judgement on a member of the medical profession, law enforcement, or firefighter needing to have a cell phone at Mass because they are “on-call.” I will accept the “on-call” designation as sufficient justification.
 
MusicMan said:
This particular thread topic appears every six months or so. It always starts with someone complaining about a fellow Mass-goer talking on their phone inappropriately before Mass or their phone going off in the middle of Mass. Then we get into a debate about the legitimacy of phones at Mass at all. Then we get into an argument about whether or not on-call professionals should have their phones at Mass.

What we forget is that the OP that started it all was about someone babbling with their friend on the phone before Mass or forgetting to shut their phone off. No one ever starts this type of thread with, “I was at Mass this morning and the hospital cardiologist’s cell phone rang and he answered it as he rushed from the nave. How dare he!” You know why we never have the thread start with this statement? Because the people who need to have their phones at Mass know better. We also never have a thread about, “I saw the town’s Funeral Director leave Mass during the Homily. What’s wrong with him that he can’t stay for the entire Mass?” Why don’t we have such a thread? Because Funeral Directors are masters of not being noticed… it’s part of the job.
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Thank you for the most sensible post on this topic that I have seen to date.

And as for those who say professionals have always been allowed to check out for an hour or two… Well, I’m not so sure. Now professionals who might otherwise have had to sit in an office, firehouse, hospital, or next to a telephone have the option of going to Mass.

I consider the possibility of my own momentary distraction to be quite inconsequential next to the ability of someone else to be able to attend Mass.

And in the old days before pagers, if someone was at Mass and was needed then a human being would have to walk in and fetch them. If anything, cell phones are more discrete.
 
SMHW said:
Thank you for the most sensible post on this topic that I have seen to date.
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I second the “thank you”. Any objection I have to cell phone use during Mass is NOT directed at the medical\emergency services professionals, but rather towards those just using the phones to chit-chat with their friends – that can wait until after Mass!
 
Gentile said:
Go to another Mass. If there is no other Mass you can attend, then given your apparent inability to ensure your phone is on vibrate, I would suggest not going at all and maybe watching on EWTN?
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Wow, kinda harsh there? Sometimes people forget, it happens. And sometimes, the phone ringing during Mass and the embarrassment of forgetting to shut off the phone is enough of a mental jog not to let it happen again.

Be a good Catholic and give someone the benefit of the doubt. 😉
 
:o I’ve forgotten many a time to turn off my cellphone during Mass. Fortunately it has never made noise…My solution was to simply leave it in the car.

And for those who wear a bluetooth handset, perhaps you agree that it becomes “one” with the flesh. I have seen some users of this new device wearing it through Mass. Perhaps causing some scandal and rifts throughout, but I took it for granted that the poor chums couldn’t feel the little piece on their ear and had forgotten.

Of course, I have a much softer attitude towards those with cellphones in the church. In the medical and law profession, some positions require people to wear a pager or phone at all times. Putting it on silent, ignoring it or putting it on vibrate are not options. Answering immediately and determining a course of action is very important and may be a commitment some people have taken in their call of life.

Then again…I’ve seen kids playing nintendos and people reading newspapers.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by WenckebachCath View Post
My husband is a physician and I am an RN. Sometimes we will be on call and need to check our voice mails during Mass. I’ll leave it on vibrate, but sometimes have forgotten to change it. There also might be some other pressing reasons why someone might need to check their messages, such as having a loved one in the hospital, or other personal reasons.

Don’t pre-judge without knowing all the facts.
Go to another Mass. If there is no other Mass you can attend, then given your apparent inability to ensure your phone is on vibrate, I would suggest not going at all and maybe watching on EWTN?

Excuse me but my husband has been in ICU for 3 weeks and I need to have my cell on at all times. Let’s hope you never need yours for that reason.
 
suppliant said:
Excuse me but my husband has been in ICU for 3 weeks and I need to have my cell on at all times. Let’s hope you never need yours for that reason.
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Exactly, that is the patient that my husband might be on call regarding. When a patient goes into a life threatening heart rhythm, the on call doc must be contacted immediately and he is expected to respond within a few minutes to that call to give new orders to the nurse taking care of that patient. When a patient is admitted to the ICU, it is required that a doctor be at the hospital within one hour. When a nurse is on call at the hospital, she or he is expected to leave and be there ASAP.

I think that some posters on this thread are extremely out of touch with reality, judgemental, uncharitable, and ignorant. Yes, there are people in the pews who might have their loved one on a ventilator in the ICU, on multiple drips, hanging on to life by a thread, and they were so thoughtless and inconsiderate of your desire to pray in peace that they forgot to turn off their cell phone!!! Afterall Mass is about you, and your experience, it’s all about you, and anyone who violates your rules should stay home!!!:mad:
 
jlr247 said:
No, I havent seen it during mass. However I remember the one time I left my phone on (I forgot it was in my pocket). Half way through mass I realized it was in my pocket and I spent the rest of mass praying it wouldn’t ring. I couldn’t shut it off because it makes loud beeping noises every time you press a button. Thank goodness noone called!😃
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You can usually change the settings on your phone to stop those beeps. (In a situation like that, I would wait until a song or something- that can mask the noise a bit).
 
WenckebachCath said:
I think that some posters on this thread are extremely out of touch with reality, judgemental, uncharitable, and ignorant. Yes, there are people in the pews who might have their loved one on a ventilator in the ICU, on multiple drips, hanging on to life by a thread, and they were so thoughtless and inconsiderate of your desire to pray in peace that they forgot to turn off their cell phone!!! Afterall Mass is about you, and your experience, it’s all about you, and anyone who violates your rules should stay home!!!:mad:
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A number of us have come to the defense of medical professionals, and appear to have convinced some of the “zero tolerance” crowd that some medical professionals do indeed need to carry cell phones with them at Mass. That’s really quite an accomplishment.

Unfortunately, with your last few posts, you seem to be acting more like the people who are upsetting you than they are.
 
I’ve been to Mass a couple of times were an individual (different ones) fainted or had a medical emergency right in the midst of Mass, and thanks to someone having a cellphone that was on, was able to call 911 and get help right away.

I think cellphones being on is o.k. AS LONG AS they’re in Quiet mode or Vibrate mode and are not answered during Mass.

–Barbara
 
I usually leave my phone in the car, but sometimes I forget to take it out of my purse while I am unloading the kids from their car seats. Luckily, they make this announcement before every single mass:

“In order to enter into and maintain the sacred character of the mass, we ask that you turn off all cell phones and pagers at this time.”

This reminder has never failed me.

Only once have I heard a cell phone ring during mass. It happened during the homily and Father looked over and said, “That had better be God!” Point taken! 😉
 
Again, as I posted earlier, I work in HEART SURGERY, it is critical I get there asap if I am called to an emergency, but I still leave my phone in the car or I make darn well sure it is on silent, and I have yet to date to forget to do this. So, I don’t care what you do for your job, leave it in the car and if your pager vibrates, notice I said vibrates, during mass, then dicretely leave and make the call. You can always go to mass at another time and I sure God will forgive you if you have to leave to go help save a life through his divine assistance.

That being said, this thread is not aimed at us and it never was. This thread is for the volvo drivining soccer moms or dads who, through blatant disregard, bring their phones in to mass and leave them on.

For those of you with sick, dying family members…I have yet to see a cell phone that did not have a vibrate function.

Peace
 
Everybody forgets on occasion. I know of a priest who was saying Mass, and during Mass, HIS cell phone started ringing. He tried to turn it off discreetly, successfully I guess, since I didn’t even realize it happened until he told me about it.
 
We had a real problem with this awhile back. We have always had a problem with the occational ringing phone. Then although I didn’t see it, apparently someone actually walked up to communion while talking on the phone. Can you believe that? The Eucharistic minister was so shocked she didn’t know what to do. We actually had to have it addressed at mass a couple of weeks later. And would’nt you know it, the very next week some one sitting up front had their phone start ringing right at the beginning of the Homily and the priest stopped dead in his tracks, looked at the guy and said " That better be God."
 
I isn’t as bad as the girl last week dancing around, tripping and dropping the hosts in front of the Bishop. I am sure this wont stop soon, irreverance is the “in thing” here in California.
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Seriously? Was this an alter server who got nervous and tripped while helping to get the dishes out or something?

As to the OP, no I’ve never seen that. I pity the person if that ever happens though. Father is sweet as he can be but I know for a fact that disrespect like that gets his Irish up and him being a nice guy just makes that much worse he goes off on you.
 
The man came into the chapel where Thomas More, then Chancellor of England, was hearing Mass and informed him that the King required his presence immediately. More told the man he would come later. The man insisted that as Chancellor he was required to obey the King’s summons. More’s answer?
“I am paying court to a higher King.”

I don’t care if both your parents and all four grandparents are at death’s door. The cell phone belongs back at home.

Matthew
 
I never leave my phone on for Mass, except one time. My phone went off during my portion of the eulogy at my mother’s funeral. I cracked a small joke about she must not like what I was saying and asked my daughter-in-law to turn it off. The odd thing was that very few people have my cell phone number, and they were all sitting there in the church. It was a wrong number! Anyway, I remember to turn it off now.
 
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