Priest has Parishioner Arrested Before 8:15am Mass
A man who usually went to Mass prior to protesting the local Planned Parenthood was arrested for trespassing on St. Matthew Catholic Church property in San Mateo, CA. The church officials said they banned him from Mass because he failed to abide by an agreement they had which required him to cover the graphic anti-abortion pictures and words on his truck, which were visible to the parish school children. In a letter sent to the man from the pastor, Fr. Anthony McGuire:
“You informed me that you would not conform with one of the demands which we had agreed to on Thursday, Sept. 20; namely that you would not attend the children’s Mass on Friday mornings. You also agreed to cover the pictures and words on your truck when you came to church. Because you reversed your position … you are no longer welcome at St. Matthew’s Church.”
The man disputes Fr. McGuire’s assertion that he agreed to stop attending the children’s Mass permanently, and also never agreed to cover up the anti-abortion words on his truck. The parishioner doesn’t feel the priest was justified in having him arrested.
Update: I found that California Catholic has been following this story for some time. 1, 2, 3
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Wow — it’s hard to know what the full story is here b/c the article requires reg.
I wouldn’t want a truck with pictures aborted babies in our parish school parking lot (and in our case, the kids would see it going to and from mass, and on their recesses, if it was still there). I think a request to cover the images would be completely reasonable -and certainly within the pastor’s perogative.
However, I think an arrest was uncalled for. At most, I would think the truck could be towed away. But I don’t know on what grounds you can keep a parishoner in good standing away from mass. What if it was his only vehicle? Now, if he’s bringing images into mass and trying to draw attention to himself (or the images), that too is another story and maybe the pastor did the best he could and resigned to getting outside help? I don’t know.
I think a little discretion(on both sides) could have saved everyone from this little drama. I have to conclude the personality mix here was such that a dramatic showdown is precisely what one or both wanted.
Comment by monica — November 14, 2007 @ 9:49 am
It’s my local newspaper, so I have now seen the full article. The writer says parents complained about the graphic poster sized pictures. One is named, and it also says she ” filed a court order against Foti to stop him from any harassing activities. ” The article doesn’t say what those were, unfortunately. On balance it looks like there was probably something out of line in the man.
Comment by Elaine T — November 14, 2007 @ 10:48 am
Sounds as if the pictures were not those that innocent children should view–especially at Mass. The priest is just trying to protect the children–and it seems as if the man was deliberatly trying to cause a problem.
Comment by tara — November 14, 2007 @ 10:32 pm
Yeah, obedience is a good thing until we are actually required to render it. I image that the offending parishioner was steadfast in his insistence of bringing his truck, regardless of what his pastor asked of him. Oh well.
Comment by St. Jimbob of the Apokalypse — November 19, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
Nice job, Father.
Arrest the man and banish him. Thats the trick.
It will come back to haunt the good “fr tony”.
Comment by Sean — November 22, 2007 @ 1:24 pm