Church Doors Open?

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Michael038

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Do you think the Church doors should be open during the daytime?
 
yes, unless crime is of great concern. It is so unfortunate that the doors cannot be open 24/7/365!
 
personally I believe the church should be open 24 hours a day, even if it means hiring armed security guards as is done at a national shrine near us. If that is impractical, at least the adoration chapel should be open 24 hours a day even if the Blessed Sacrament is reposed, and even if it means hiring security. It is a scandal, and no small part of the reason for the waning belief in the Real Presence and practice of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, that it is not possible for most Catholics, most of the time.
 
My parish, St. Cecilia’s in Rochester, NY is open 24/7. I think that is great because sometines one needs a few quiet minutes to pray. Unfortunately some of your most beautiful churches are in bad neighborhoods and cannot remain open because of crime and vandalism.
 
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Michael038:
Do you think the Church doors should be open during the daytime?
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Canon Law requires that all churches with the Blessed Sacrament in a tabernacle be open at least for some hours each day to allow access of the faithful to the Blessed Sacrament for adoration and prayer. However they should only be open when someone who is capable of protecting the Blessed Sacrament is there.
 
Are you insane? It’s 105 degrees outside!

Unlocked, sure. Ours are open from 7am-11pm, I believe 🙂
 
I voted unsure, solely for the reason of crime. Unfortunately, I’ve got a friend who’s former parish was in such a bad part of town there were bars on the windows and the doors were locked except during Mass (people could get in, but they had to ring at other times). If crime’s not an issue, they should definitely be open, at least during the day.
 
Yes, many churches are closed because of concerns of crime, but I wondor if we are to cautious. I would like to see more churches open during the day.
 
I voted ‘Open’. That’s what I’d like to see. I live in a HUGE city that has one whole traffic light, and a WOPPING 3,000 people. Our Church is locked all the time. Fortunately I have a key, but not too many people do. The crazy thing is, when I go to Denver on business trips (many more traffic lights and people 😉 ), I can stop by most any Catholic Church at any time during the day, and the doors are unlocked even when no one is there… go figure.

:confused:
 
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TomS:
My parish, St. Cecilia’s in Rochester, NY is open 24/7. I think that is great because sometines one needs a few quiet minutes to pray. Unfortunately some of your most beautiful churches are in bad neighborhoods and cannot remain open because of crime and vandalism.
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That was the case with my church. When our new pastor came 3 years ago; the church was open from 6am-6pm. Then one day a kid started coming into the church and hanging out there. After my pastor found out that this kid is a known arsonist, he locked up the church.
 
Open as many hours as possible, with some unobtrusive security.
 
Do you think the Church doors should be open during the daytime?
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I don’t think so.

It would let out all the air conditioning in the summer, and all the heat during the winter. Not to mention all sort of bugs and critters and such.

They should be unlocked though :rolleyes:
 
Our church -well, our Blessed Sacrament Chapel actually- is open during the day when the staff is on the premises. But it gets locked when everyone goes home. It’s open later on the nights the prayer group meets there.

I’m kind of wondering how many churches which are locked do not have the rectory near the church? That’s the case in our city.

In the case of one of the parishes the rectory is about 3 miles away from the main church. (There is a small chapel near the rectory which was the main church when we were just a small town. I don’t know what hours it is open.) As for my parish, the priest’s residence is closer but it is on the opposite side of a wide, busy street from the church and the nearest traffic light is practically half a mile away. The setup is such that you can’t see one place from the other.
 
I cited other because of crime concerns in certain neighborhoods. The more the better, of course, but in some places it would be asking for trouble.
 
Absolutely!!!They should remain open.Although crime(vandalism) is a great concern:hmmm:
 
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donosti:
Although crime(vandalism) is a great concern:hmmm:
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The town in which I grew up has 25,000 people - which makes it one of the larger communities in Iowa. The churches had to start locking their doors 30 years ago because of problems with vandalism.
 
If the church and neighborhood are safe, absolutely yes. If their is a real possibility for harm to worshippers or the church or anything in the church, then prudence militates against it being open. Ideally, someone should be available to monitor the church while it is open.
 
Do you think the Church doors should be open during the daytime?
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Generally speaking, no.

Unlike previous eras, there is a real risk of vandalism.

Unless a church is a landmark and a tourist attraction with a full time staff on the premises, it ain’t a very good idea in 2005.

Also unlike previous eras, the vast majority of the faithful usually live a considerable distance away, few are close enough to visit on any sort of regular schedule outside of mass times.
 
Maybe not 24/7, but I think they should be opened during the daytime hours.

There was a time a few months ago, when I really needed to speak with a priest, to have someplace to pray. Every church I stopped by was locked. I even went to the Cathedral and was told I couldn’t come in during a mass that already started.

It made a really depressing and sorrowful time even worse. Especially when the clerk at the Cathedral looked me up and down, as if I wasn’t good enough to be in “her” church.
 
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