You will want to see this. HERE Bp. Olmsted makes remarks on camera.
And BBC HERE
Among other things that story says that they have now a description of the suspected perp and that Fr. Terra can talk finally:
Parishioner Bill Haley told the Associated Press news agency he had visited Reverend Terra in hospital and the priest was able to talk.
“He said nothing evil about the person who did this, expressed no ill will.”
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Dear Fr. Z,
Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Littleton CO will be having a sung high Requiem mass (EF form) for Fr. Walker on Monday June 16th at 8:30am (call time 7:30 in the parish hall). I invite all singers that connect with your blog to come and sing with us.
Besides the Gregorian Requiem I’m planning the Victoria – Vere Languores Nostros as a communion or offertory hymn and either the Josquin – Ave Verum Corpus Christi or Victoria – O Vos Omnes as well.
Requiescat in pace. May Our Lord have mercy on his soul and may God heal Fr. Terra.
Rick Wheeler
Music Director
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church
5612 S. Hickory Street
Littleton, CO 80120
If you can join us, you’re most welcome.
http://www.olmcfssp.org/cms/
So, per Bishop Olmstead, I think there’s an interesting Fr. Z survey to be done… I’d be interested in knowing how many priests among the readership have 1) never shot a firearm, 2) have previous firearms experience (military, hobby, etc) but no longer shoot, 3) presently hunt for sport or shoot recreationally only on occasion, or 4) are packing heat (or otherwise have access to a firearm/weapon) for personal protection in their rectories/homes even now? I thought it was interesting how the bishop didn’t deny the possibility that bad guys could end up on the business end of a Beretta (the gun, not the hat) if they invaded a rectory. My own rectory had been broken into three times in the previous 20 years–not a great neighborhood–and I was ready to give someone on a fourth try a bit more than they bargained for. Thank God, it never came to that.
In my conversations with priests, I get the sense that the vast majority do not own a firearm, and do not care to go out and get one, although I know of some who do. But generally speaking, Catholic priests take other precautions for safety and security in their rectories.
This is a very strange story. I suspect that Fr Terra (who later described the assailant as a white man in his 40s) knows who the person is and for some reason doesn’t want to reveal it.
I’ve been in that part of Phoenix, and it’s certainly deserted by night and not even particularly attractive during the day. There are transients passing through, judging from what I saw, so possibly it was one of them who had been helped by the priests earlier and then came back believing that there was money to be had there.
I don’t know about owning a weapon, but I do know that Abp Philip Hannan, who had been a WWII chaplain with the 82d Airborne and had jumped with them, was once confronted in Rome by a man who tried to steal his pectoral cross. Abp Hannan cold cocked the would be thief.
I have less trust of and am more wary of being physically near people who I know own/carry firearms. I think I am not the only person who feels this way, therefore this seems like it could work against the ministry of priests. Priests should take appropriate measures for their safety, and there are other possibilities. Pope Francis’ discernment is also good and courageous that extensive protective measures can put a barrier between him (not only physical but a psychological barrier of mistrust) and the people he is showing love, care and closeness to.
I know of priests who hunt, e.g. Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ. Now, whether they use their own guns or borrow them I do not know.
Deo gratias that last sentence made it in the article. It’s a good testimony.
Here’s a sermon by Fr. Walker, entitled “Mercy & Justice”: http://youtube.com/watch?v=seXdJ_XxeBA
One of our priests is, by testimony of the scouting troop he has hiked with, more than ready to defend himself against a bear by means of a gun. Whether he’d use it against a human being, I do not know. Another priest here in town is an avid sportsman, and definitely does own his own weapons. I believe he carries a concealed weapon at least some of the time. Here in Alaska, we are in as much danger from the local wildlife as from other humans, and I do not think a priest should hesitate to protect himself from either one.