Do you feel safe going to Mass?

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I think more about it now. It’s so sad that we find ourselves in this place. I don’t think I would bring a weapon to Mass. I’ve heard other churches that have officers (plain dressed) throughout the congregation.
 
I’m not sure if you were agreeing or disagreeing with me or neither, since I said such a thing would be useless.
 
i try not to think about;

i go to mass in my normal place of worship

frankly i think you are more vulnerable in other venues; eg large shopping malls and/or sporting events

stay vigilant & do the best you can
 
the odds are on your side

there is probably a greater chance of being killed by a shark or hit by lightning than being attacked in your local church by a psychotic, atheistic gunman with in-law issues who got his weapon by deceit & usaf incompetence
 
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Gun violence, while obviously immoral, is actually a rational, mentally healthy response to being taught that guns solve problems.
 
Of course, I feel safe during mass! Let me die in a state of grace and in front of the altar as I offer myself to the Lord! I don’t fear death unless I’m in a state of sin. 😁
 
Yes, I feel safer there than at Wal-Mart. As @dallas_r wrote, better to die there, in front of the altar, than elsewhere, and in a state of grace.
 
I’ve been practicing flinging the hymnals at church like ninja throwing stars, and my aim has gotten pretty accurate. I feel much safer now :roll_eyes:

Seriously, I feel quite safe at Mass where I live.
 
I don’t feel unsafe because of this but I do worry about a copycat. After, which shooting was it? idk I think it was LV, the media attemped to avoid using the name and image of the shooter and tkeep the focus on the victims and people who tried to help. It didn’t last long because too many other news outlets were publishing his name.
 
I used to feel safe at Mass. After the Texas shooting, I don’t know. I went to daily Mass on Monday and realized Father is directly in front of the door to the chapel when he is at the altar.

About 6 months ago, Father had cameras installed all over the parish. He can pull up a direct feed on his phone when he’s in the rectory. We had our security system updated 2 years ago. We were broken into about 3 months ago by a homeless person. Last month, we had someone breaking into cars in the parking lot during Mothers Day Out. The thief has visited us before as well as churches in the area. In September, the church shooting that happened in TN was about 5 miles from my parish. We are having a meeting later this week with ministry heads - especially with the Greeters/Ushers concerning our new safety protocols. We may have to lock our doors during Mass and have ushers stationed to let late arrivals in.

We can’t afford to have private security patrol our parking lot. We have invited our local police to use our parking lot to fill out paperwork, eat lunch, etc…
 
Many urban parishes I’ve visited have a theft problem. When I was in high school, my best friend’s dad saw a guy walking down the street with the monstrance from the local church which he had just stolen. He called the priest who went after the man and got it back. Other people steal from purses that women leave in the pew at communion or just aren’t watching. I either don’t take a purse to Mass or it’s on my body/ in front of me at all times including when I kneel, but other people are very careless with their items. This doesn’t make me fear for my bodily safety though.

We did have a priest attacked by armed robbers in the parking lot of his church in my home city a couple years ago. A parishioner saw it and scared the robbers off, but they did injure the priest. The Parish is very politically connected due to its ethnic makeup and ties to the mayor, and the police had all the robbers in custody within a day or two. There have been incidents of violent robbery near a number of other city churches where I go. I watch my back in the lots, but I’m kind of used to going to somewhat sketchy places in cities so it’s not a big deal especially in daylight.
 
Funny enough, I started a thread on this very topic about 6 months or more ago and was basically ridiculed on this forum or even mentioning the subject. Yet, here we are months later, and you can say my dire predictions came true.

In the area where I live, we had a fanatic attempt to massacre a large Baptist church, perhaps the largest church in the area. The police caught him before he could wreak havoc. A French priest was beheaded at Mass in the past year. These kinds of occurrences are becoming more common.

To answer your question, no, I haven’t felt comfortable attending Mass in a long time due to these concerns. Armed guards should be the bare minimum at all churches now. We are under attack from these nutcases. Christ forewarned us. We need to be smarter than this.

I do believe there should be armed guards or police at our churches to protect from gun violence. With all that has happened this past year, it is utterly irresponsible for our churches to not take steps to protect parishioners. I would never bring a weapon to church (or anywhere else for that matter), but am all in favor of having armed guards or policemen at the church doors to protect the parishioners.
 
If you feel very unsafe, then why are you shoving the burden of your own protection off onto others? Why don’t you just carry or take steps to protect yourself instead of expecting others to do it for you?
 
I am more than willing to contribute to a fund for the parish to enable competent security professionals to guard the parish during Mass.

I have neither the time, energy, experience, nor the desire to learn about how to adequately secure a building from intruders. That skill is better left to competent security professionals that do have the requisite experience, knowledge, and aptitude.
 
christofirst said:
I’ve been practicing flinging the hymnals at church like ninja throwing stars, and my aim has gotten pretty accurate. I feel much safer now :roll_eyes:

Seriously, I feel quite safe at Mass where I live.
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😆

The only time I’ve been actually “in danger” at Mass was because a crazy person started screaming and throwing hymnals. So I think it works both ways.
 
Of course. If I die there, I die for God. I’d love to die for God, as God always comes first. Being a martyr is a wonderful path to Sainthood. 👍
 
I get in a vehicle to drive 5 minutes to the Cathedral. If I can do that without fearing for my life, I can go to Mass. I am thousands of times more likely to die in my car than I am at church.

Unjustified hysteria. That is all any of this is.

And I would be 100% opposed to having armed guards outside, though I am not concerned in the slightest that my bishop would ever allow something so utterly absurd. Frankly, I think the mental stability of anybody volunteering for such a job would be worth screening and I would feel less safe with them around then I would otherwise.
 
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TK421 said:
Frankly, I think the mental stability of anybody volunteering for such a job would be worth screening and I would feel less safe with them around then I would otherwise.
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I agree. That was my first thought as well when it was first proposed in this thread.
 
If even 1% of them were mentally unstable, and you have 10,000 parishes across the country having 2 guards outside, then that means you have 200 mentally unstable people with guns outside of a sanctuary on a weekly basis.

And I can absolutely guarantee that more than 1% of them would have issues. It takes a certain borderline personality to buy into this kind of hysteria and volunteer to be a “parish guard”. It is somewhat asinine and surreal that I am even having this conversation.

So a big ‘no thank you’ to having “heroes” standing watch outside of the sanctuary.

I am yet again heartened & encouraged to know the hierarchical Church relies on competent bishops to make decisions and not laity. Goodness gracious.
 
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