It’s a scenario that may seem unthinkable – someone enters church during Mass and threatens those inside.
But in today’s increasingly violent world, anyone who follows the news knows that these terrible attacks can happen, in churches and at other public venues. So it is important to be prepared.
That is the idea behind day-long church security training being sponsored by the Diocese of Allentown, to raise awareness among priests and parish leaders so they can return home and take steps to further improve public safety at their parishes.
The first session, taught by security experts from the Northampton Community College Corporate and Public Safety training program, was held Sept. 12 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Bethlehem.
Through classroom discussions and in-church simulations, instructors with long experience in law enforcement and threat management explained that advance planning and preparedness can make a significant improvement in the safety of churches and other public places.
On the minds of everyone in the room was a recent incident in Minneapolis, in which a man with a gun fired shots into a Catholic church during Mass, killing two and injuring 21 others.
“I’ll bet that every parish represented here already has security experts in its congregation,” said instructor John Mazzeo, a former Easton police officer who now travels the country providing such training.
“There are law enforcement officers, retired law enforcement officers, active and retired military, and others attending Mass already,” he told parish leaders. “Talk with these people, form a parish safety committee, and begin the planning needed to improve safety.”
While the instructors had plenty of detailed advice for parish leaders on how to take steps to be better prepared in their parishes if the unthinkable ever happens, they also provided some practical advice for the average person who attends any public event: run (know where the exits are and use them), hide (find a place out of view of the person causing the threat and barricade the door if you can), and fight (as a last resort, and only if your life is in imminent danger).
The training at Our Lady of Perpetual Help was organized for parishes in Lehigh and Northampton counties. For parishes in Carbon and Schuylkill counties, the session was Sept. 27 at St. Clare of Assisi, St. Clair. For Berks County parishes, it will be Saturday, Oct. 25 at St. Catharine of Siena, Reading.
By Paul Wirth
Photo by Ed Kosky
