Locked In For Mass

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I have heard that our diocese is going to be implementing a “locked doors” policy during mass soon for security reasons. Once mass begins, doors will be locked to prevent anyone from entering unless an usher lets them in, though the doors will not be locked to prevent mass attendees from leaving. If they do leave though, they will have to be let in by an usher.

I believe this policy is not due to any particular new threat, but rather in response to the school shooting and a desire to increase overall safety and security.
 
Before freaking out, I would confirm that they are locking people in and not simply locking people out. Most Churches these days have emergency firebars on their exits that allow everyone to exit, even if the door is locked from the outside. I highly suspect that is the case. They were warning people to get there on time because they won’t be able to get in from the outside.
 
Where I live, locking the doors happens at some parishes for school Masses. To gain entry you have to pass a trained security officer.
 
okay lol. I’m sorry: I get worked up to easily sometimes.
 
It is possible for doors to be locked so that people inside can get out, but those who are outside cannot get in. My hometown parish church has this. When the priest leaves after Mass he will lock the doors, but those of us who might still be in the building can still push the doors from inside to exit. Once we are out, they lock behind us so we can’t get back in. I believe this would also comply with fire safety codes.

You might want to check on the situation with the doors at the church you mention. If it is in some area with high crime or has received threats, I can understand why they would lock the doors at a certain hour so people cannot enter from outside.
 
The world has gone stark, raving mad. So the only way to participate in Eucharistic Adoration with the Blessed Sacrament exposed is to sign up? Sign-up sheets serve one purpose: a precaution to make sure the Blessed Sacrament while exposed is not left unattended, particularly during the night. I know of 3 parishes within a 30 minute drive from my home that have adoration all day, every week day. I have no idea if any of them have a sign up sheet. You literally cannot show up at any without 10 or 20 people being there. How in the heck does a parish expect to get adoration to grow if someone has to know to call and sign-up to get a key-code? Otherwise, it just seems like another locked church. Oh, you say: its easy to sign up. Of course it is, but that’s not how it grows. People don’t do that. They happen by the church and stop to make a visit and realize the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. Wow, they say, I am going to remember this and come back. They tell a friend, who tells another friend. Pretty soon, within 5 years is my guess, a parish has 10 or 20 people praying before the Blessed Sacrament all day long.

After the space shuttle challenger crashed, the government paid a firm a lot of money to review the entire Nasa organization, its structure, procedures, culture etc. They came up with a term “normalization of deviancy” which describes things that are not quite right, sometimes down right wrong, which no one even things about challenging, because that’s just normal". Locking a Catholic Church during the day is a normalization of deviancy.
 
tafan2 said:
The world has gone stark, raving mad. So the only way to participate in Eucharistic Adoration with the Blessed Sacrament exposed is to sign up? Sign-up sheets serve one purpose: a precaution to make sure the Blessed Sacrament while exposed is not left unattended, particularly during the night. I know of 3 parishes within a 30 minute drive from my home that have adoration all day, every week day. I have no idea if any of them have a sign up sheet. You literally cannot show up at any without 10 or 20 people being there. How in the heck does a parish expect to get adoration to grow if someone has to know to call and sign-up to get a key-code? Otherwise, it just seems like another locked church. Oh, you say: its easy to sign up. Of course it is, but that’s not how it grows. People don’t do that. They happen by the church and stop to make a visit and realize the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. Wow, they say, I am going to remember this and come back. They tell a friend, who tells another friend. Pretty soon, within 5 years is my guess, a parish has 10 or 20 people praying before the Blessed Sacrament all day long.

After the space shuttle challenger crashed, the government paid a firm a lot of money to review the entire Nasa organization, its structure, procedures, culture etc. They came up with a term “normalization of deviancy” which describes things that are not quite right, sometimes down right wrong, which no one even things about challenging, because that’s just normal". Locking a Catholic Church during the day is a normalization of deviancy.
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The ones around me are simply wait to be buzzed in. It was part of the checks and balances as one could ensure that the Eucharist was never left alone without a conversation.

No key code.

The only stark raving mad ones are the druggies who would steal anything that is not nailed down. It’s happened more than once.
 
Here it is a key code that is known to all adorers, it is in the bulletin, and during business hours the office will tell anyone who asks the code. At night people can ring the bell, but, after some panhandlers learned that trick and would come in then get threatening with the next adorers we had to advise the overnight adorers “do not let anyone in unless you recognize them”. Small town in the south, so, most Catholics know each other by sight.
 
Some parishes with perpetual Adoration may do this for overnight hours only.
 
Locking the doors for security… ummm… erm…

We provide security the old-fashioned way out here 🙂

Quite a few members of law enforcement attend too. Have been to a few morning daily masses where law enforcement show up in full gear for their shift (some seem to actually take a half-hour off to come). Nothing deters issues like one or more guys in body armour with Sig’s, Glocks, or various species of 1911’s.

Had one Catholic church in the diocese get robbed during a Saturday Mass. Guessing that helped provide impetus for passing the concealed carry in houses of worship legislation out here.

The doors at the church are open usually from before 8:00 to after 9:00PM or so. It’s great for an always busy person like me to come in and find some quiet time. I don’t worry about security, I bring my own.
 
Thank you for the definition. I live in the US midwest and am not familiar with the term. Rectory seems to be what is commonly used in the three states in which I have lived.
 
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Sig-Sauer… don’t leave home without it 🙂 Assuming such is permissible in your area. That reminds me, I should wear more suits, because concealment is easier that way.

Been to places where churches/cathedrals have been locked down. Most of those experiences have been in Canadian cities 😛

Heck, the cathedral in Regina has razor wire on the low flat roof of an entrance door. Umm, ermm, what??!? The cathedral in Medicine Hat also had rather stout protections on it.

By contrast, during the day I can walk up to the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck, ND and go visit just about anywhere in the place.
 
midori said:
but I have absolutely zero desire to be in a place that I can’t get out of in an emergency.
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Is that legal, considering the fire code?
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The church would be locked only so that people could not enter, but you would still be free to leave at anytime.

It would be a felony to do otherwise.
 
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tafan2 said:
So the only way to participate in Eucharistic Adoration with the Blessed Sacrament exposed is to sign up?
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No. There are plenty of Adoration places that are open for general visits during daylight/ business hours or into the early evening.

The ones that are locked are often either in areas where it could be dangerous not to have a lock and/or they are only locked during nighttime hours, so people who are in there at 1 am don’t have to be in fear for their lives.

I’m aware of one place in a fairly remote and economically depressed area that has a lock, but if you buzz during regular hours, the scheduled adorer will let you in. I go there from time to time but as it’s a distance from my house I cannot be a scheduled adorer. No problem getting in during the day.

I’m aware of another place that leaves the chapel unlocked all night, but after a certain hour Jesus is locked in the tabernacle. You can still adore Him in there. I go there from time to time in the late/ wee hours.
I would further note that you get the same spiritual benefits from visiting Jesus when He is in the tabernacle as you do when the Eucharist is exposed.
 
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