Skip to main content

Atlanta archbishop to restrict guns at Catholic churches in Georgia

Catholic institutions in Georgia will restrict firearms from their sanctuaries, schools and other institutions following Gov. Nathan Deal’s approval of legislation that widely expands the state’s gun laws.


  Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory wrote in a column in the Georgia Bulletin that he will “officially restrict” the presence of weapons in Georgia’s Catholic churches and religious institutions.
Limited exceptions could be made for members of the military, law enforcement officials and others authorized by the government to protect the public, Gregory said.
Wrote Gregory:
The last thing we need is more firearms in public places, especially in those places frequented by children and the vulnerable. I do not want to suggest restricting firearms in places where they are needed, to protect one’s home and property or to defend the public by officials who are entrusted with our protection. Yet this new legislation de facto makes firearms more available in places where they may allow violence to escalate.
Gregory’s comments follow a directive issued Monday by Bishop Robert Wright of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta that also banned firearms from Episcopal churches in middle and north Georgia. The only exception to that policy will be on-duty law enforcement officers.
In fact, guns are now banned in every Episcopal church in Georgia. Here’s a rather definitive, April 24 letter from the Right Rev. Scott Anson Benhase, bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Georgia:
The broad expansion of gun rights, signed into law last week, allows Georgians to legally carry firearms in places including schools, bars and government buildings. It also for the first time expressly permits licensed concealed-weapons holders to bring firearms into the state’s churches, provided that an individual place of worship allows it.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pope Francis: Gun-makers are hypocrites if they call themselves Christians

MAX ROSSI/REUTERS Pope Francis criticized weapons manufacturers who call themselves Christians on Sunday. “They say one thing and do another,” he said. TURIN, Italy — People who manufacture weapons or invest in weapons industries are hypocrites if they call themselves Christian, Pope Francis said on Sunday. Francis issued his toughest condemnation to date of the weapons industry at a rally of thousands of young people at the end of the first day of his trip to the Italian city of Turin. "If you trust only men you have lost," he told the young people in a long, rambling talk about war, trust and politics after putting aside his prepared address. "It makes me think of ... people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit a distrust, doesn't it?" he said to applause. He also criticized those who invest in weapons industries, saying "duplicity is the cur...

A day after March for Our Lives, Pope urges youth to speak out

Pope Francis blesses attendees and palm leaves during at St Peter's square on March 25, 2018 (CNN) A day after hundreds of thousands of people protested gun violence at March for Our Lives events in the US and around the globe, Pope Francis called on the world's youth to continue speaking out and standing up. "Dear young people, you have it in you to shout," the Pope said in his Palm Sunday address at St. Peter's Square in Rome. Pope Francis at the the end of Palm Sunday Mass in Vatican City Palm Sunday -- celebrated on the Sunday before Easter -- is commemorated by Christians as the day Jesus entered Jerusalem in the week of his crucifixion, when palm leaves were strewn in his path. Noting that this Palm Sunday coincides with World Youth Day, the pontiff used the opportunity to compare youth to Jesus's followers, who were scorned by his detractors. "It is up to you not to keep quiet," Pope Francis said. "...

Catholic Church calls for knife control

Catholic Church calls for knife control Clergy members want the British Parliament to ban pointed kitchen knives. Author: Dale Greenstein October 7, 2019 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Gun-control. It’s a topic that triggers countless political showdowns -- and high-powered, dinner table debates -- here in the United States, but in the United Kingdom, a sharp conversation over knife-control is cutting through the country. Yes, you read that right -- knife-control. Here’s why: In Great Britain, like in most of the developed world, gun violence simply is not a very big problem, but knife crimes are on the rise. According to an Oct. 3 report  from the British Parliament, in 2017 and 2018, 285 people were killed with knives and other "sharp instruments". That was 34 percent more than the two years prior. Overview of the increase in knife homicide rates in the United Kingdom. Now, British lawmakers are facing pressure to act, and the pus...