Churches locked outside of Mass

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I am thankful that my parish keeps the building open for people to come and pray until 2 pm daily. This type of practice varies depending on the neighborhood one is in around here. I live in a rather peaceful suburb and consider myself very fortunate to have an active parish within walking distance to my home and two adoration chapels within 3 miles of me. The rest of the Diocese is not like this. There is definitely more security in the more urban areas or churches where there is a priest administering more than one parish. One lenten Friday a few years back I was praying the stations after Mass at a downtown parish and was interrupted and rushed by a janitor who told me I needed to go do that the church could be locked up. I completely understand security but it is very disheartening. I keep the diocesan directory on my phone so that I can find masses and adoration times if I am elsewhere in the region.

I also want to note that I am in the Diocese of Buffalo. Despite the horrible and disheartening things that have gone on in the Diocese, there are still many wonderful priests, religious, and parish communities here, all of whom are hurting because of these things and who continue to pray and work towards healing.
 
Horton said:
I’m not sure if you know this but not all Catholic parishes have schools and not all schools physically connected to a church.
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Yes, I understand not all Catholic parishes have schools and not all that do may physically connect to a Church. The poster that I quoted and I were talking about the parish my wife attends and the elementary school that is attached. How the Church is locked due to it being an access point any my uneasiness if I were a parent if it were to be open.
Horton said:
it’s not a play on words
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¯_(ツ)_/¯
Horton said:
Again making the assumption that all Catholic parishes have schools and all schools are physically connected to the church building.
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No I’m not. Like I said above…me and another poster were LITERALLY talking about instances where a school is attached to the Church and what would be my uneasiness of said school access point being left open to the public…
 
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You will.have to.provide some documentation to this claim. I am sure there have always been a few that were locked for a legitimate means, but that’s all.

And I know of zero churches that are locked today which have a security code they will give out to non staff members or non-volunteers.
 
BTW, I travel to Mexico every year or so. I vaguely recall coming upon a locked church one time in a resort area. But in the cities and towns I have been in, they are always unlocked during the day. Never a shortage of beggars at the door. Not always safe locations. But they are unlocked, and never a shortage of people inside praying.
 
That’s sensational! I mean, I just don’t get how a thief can knowingly still something from a church. It’s either pure desperation or maybe they’re just an unbeliever.
 
I have multiple stories of theft from our old church. It certainly happens.
 
Ya…I thought it was kind of common…

It seemed like it was almost a monthly occurrence where we got a story of a church being robbed.
 
Horton said:
rarely hear about churches being stolen from
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Many things happen that are not regularly reported. Especially if it is a common occurrence. Or maybe it just doesn’t happen much there - one size never fits all.
 
A number of years ago, a friend of mine from NJ told about a Protestant church near her. The pastor was in his office on a Wednesday, doing his paper work, and the cleaning people had left. Someone walked in with a baseball bat and beat the pastor to death. I worry more about psychopaths like that than the theft of some candlesticks.
 
There is probably enough security around the Vatican that the Pope isn’t going to be in danger if he walks down a hallway alone. I agree with the Pope to the extent that if I were in the Vatican with him, I’d feel pretty safe, too.
 
It is never a one size fits all. It’s why I disagree with the comments that ALL churches should be locked and have security doors because people will come in to steal and vandalize.
Shasta-Rose said:
A number of years ago, a friend of mine from NJ told about a Protestant church near her. The pastor was in his office on a Wednesday, doing his paper work, and the cleaning people had left. Someone walked in with a baseball bat and beat the pastor to death. I worry more about psychopaths like that than the theft of some candlesticks.
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This could happen anywhere, a store, an office building, a home, walking down the street. Bad things happen and it always a tragedy. We can either lock ourselves away wrapped in cotton or we can live our lives.
 
Since murder and vandalism and violent crime have all been decreasing in the USA for the past 30 years, I don’t think the change of practice is because it has gotten worse, because it hasn’t. I simply think a combination of news and social media has made the public more sensitive to the rare instances when something bad happens.

So yeah, I’m also of the opinion that parishes (and religious buildings in general) could probably afford to take a little more risk when it comes to access to the building. Maybe not 24/7 but at least during daylight hours. I think there is a cascade effect where locked doors 90% of the time means people never stop by even when the doors are unlocked. There is no spontaneity if you can only visit the sanctuary during a very specific time.

Common sense for safety is fine but I do think it is possible to have an absolutist viewpoint on safety that can become toxic and harmful. We all take tiny risks everyday of our life.

If you believe private revelation - which I do - than Jesus has made it abundantly clear that access to his Presence is more important than the risk of sacrilege. This goes way back to the earlier years of our country with St John Neumann creating chapels throughout the diocese of Philadelphia in a landscape where hostility to the Catholic Church was ubiquitous.
 
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Shasta-Rose said:
There is probably enough security around the Vatican that the Pope isn’t going to be in danger if he walks down a hallway alone. I agree with the Pope to the extent that if I were in the Vatican with him, I’d feel pretty safe, too.
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Security around the Vatican and its churches is not water tight, I reference the wooden idols being thrown into the Tiber, early in the morning, in a church where others were praying.

Still Pope Francis says do not lock the churches.
Murders happen anywhere.
 
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SteelArchangel said:
That’s sensational! I mean, I just don’t get how a thief can knowingly still something from a church. It’s either pure desperation or maybe they’re just an unbeliever.
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At my church, we had to lock up the garden shears and clippers we use to trim and take care of the flowers and plants in a more secure room because they simply would otherwise “disappear”. They used to be kept in the utility room of the sacristy but they usually didn’t last more than three weeks before someone walked off with them.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the person(s) who takes them thinks that they’re stealing, they probably think (and justify their actions) that they’re just “borrowing” the clippers but the garden tools never return. We’ve had other smaller items disappear like our BIC multipurpose lighters and more expensive items like was candles and even potted plants.

This is in a church that’s usually locked after Masses and where the sacristy is also kepted locked. It’s obviously an inside job and its probably multiple people who think its fine to take things out of the church for their own personal use. They probably rationalize it thinking “I’ll return it after I done using it” but rarely do these items ever show up again.

But the same thought crosses through my mind like yours “Stealing from the House of God?“

And by the way, this is why I think it’s foolish and sad to keep the doors of a church locked except during Mass. Because it doesn’t prevent theft. It only prevents the faithful from being able to pray in the House of God near God between Masses.
 
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Perpetual adoration, with at least two adorers in the nave of the church at all times, might be a plan. One door left unlocked with video surveillance and recording could be used as a backup, as well as having the adorers to install an app on their smartphones to summon aid in case of an intruder.

Admittedly, this would be difficult in smaller parishes (not enough adorers), as well as those in high-crime areas in the middle of the night.
 
snavemarc said:
theft and vandalism
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Yes this is the reason. My last parish had all the brass fronts stolen, most likely to melt down and sell. My comment to the priest is that they would have got a healthy dose of holy water on them!
 
Exactly. We have seen all of the toilet paper (I mean all of it) walk out. If someone needs toilet paper, we will give them a package. Thing is, now there are 3 more Sunday masses to go, no toilet paper and the staff are not in the office on Sunday.

Next thing you know, there is a post on CAF about “I visited a parish and they were so unwelcoming they did not provide toilet paper!”

Now, all of the extra paper/cleaning supplies are kept under lock and key.

You do not want to see what sort of shape the bathrooms are in after any public event. If the facilities were unlocked all day, we would have to hire someone full time just to keep the bathrooms sanitary. We cannot afford to hire someone, do you think people would volunteer to come up all day and clean/unplug the toilets?
 
A wooden church at the mountainside was burnt and the altar desecrated. They left a headless puppet hanged in the altar, burnt the Holy Table.
We live terrible times and some people hold beliefs such as desecrating God is probably an act of faith in theirs…
I used to get angry at closed churches too once I read about the desecrated church (happened during the night) and so I just pray at home more if I need to. Make a home altar, buy candles and enjoy private prayer as well.
 
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St. John Neumann founded my parish here in Western NY. I recently found out in a biography that he celebrated mass in our church when it was still unfinished, during which local protestants would throw rocks over the walls, some of which would land on the altar.
 
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