Not to think ill will but if you interview someone who makes his living off security at churches, does he unintentionally paint a bleaker picture than someone who doesn’t do that? I wish the USCCB would come out with something like “what to do if someone does something at mass”. A few years ago we were playing with the idea of having a a few guys each mass be in charge of just keeping an eye on things. To be the designated people who would do something if something happened. Maybe it’s time to bring that back...
I've often thought this would be a great thing for ushers to do - and also to watch the Communion lines in case someone pockets the host or something. In most churches, at least from what I've seen, the ushers' primary purpose is to help everyone get out of their pews and into the Communion line, which is something we generally don't need help with. I wouldn't mind having strategically chosen and trained ushers, maybe (retired) police or vets or whatever, and the parish can have an annual training where they talk about any particular concerns of the parish /locality and Catholic-specific things like what to do if someone pockets the Sacrament. They can also do the red cross first aid training and know who all the medical professionals in the parish are so if someone collapses during Mass they can be in charge of handling that situation.
My diocese has a group of persons designated specifically for this, outside of just the ushers. They go through quite the vetting process, interview, and monthly training for different potential disrupting scenarios. Granted, the diocese has many large parishes so this is feasible at those parishes.
Can this article be published in bulletins or copied and given to parish staff? There would be attribution, of course.
Not to think ill will but if you interview someone who makes his living off security at churches, does he unintentionally paint a bleaker picture than someone who doesn’t do that? I wish the USCCB would come out with something like “what to do if someone does something at mass”. A few years ago we were playing with the idea of having a a few guys each mass be in charge of just keeping an eye on things. To be the designated people who would do something if something happened. Maybe it’s time to bring that back...
I've often thought this would be a great thing for ushers to do - and also to watch the Communion lines in case someone pockets the host or something. In most churches, at least from what I've seen, the ushers' primary purpose is to help everyone get out of their pews and into the Communion line, which is something we generally don't need help with. I wouldn't mind having strategically chosen and trained ushers, maybe (retired) police or vets or whatever, and the parish can have an annual training where they talk about any particular concerns of the parish /locality and Catholic-specific things like what to do if someone pockets the Sacrament. They can also do the red cross first aid training and know who all the medical professionals in the parish are so if someone collapses during Mass they can be in charge of handling that situation.
My diocese has a group of persons designated specifically for this, outside of just the ushers. They go through quite the vetting process, interview, and monthly training for different potential disrupting scenarios. Granted, the diocese has many large parishes so this is feasible at those parishes.