The archbishop of San Antonio, Texas -- Gustavo Garcia-Siller -- issued a statement following yesterday's massacre in a Protestant church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, saying: "These Baptist brethren are our family, friends and neighbors who live among us in the archdiocese; just minutes away from our Wilson County parishes of Sacred Heart in Floresville, St. Ann in La Vernia, and St. Mary in Stockdale."
Yet, if the mass shooting had indeed been at a nearby Catholic parish, we are sad to say law-abiding citizens would be forced to merely watch the massacre, despite anyone in the pews having a state-issued license to carry a firearm. Although firearms can be carried in a church in Texas with a license, the church owner has the right to object.
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| Sign on door of Saint John Neumann church in San Antonio |
From the 1 February 2016 memo to all pastors in the Archdiocese of San Antonio:
It is the policy of the Archdiocese of San Antonio that an individual may not possess a firearm, concealed or openly carried, at any facility owned, leased or operated by the Archdiocese or an Archdiocesan entity."
Yesterday's tragedy was ended with the help of a good man with a gun who was able to shoot the killer as he fled the scene. This was the second time in just over a month that a good man with a gun stopped a church shooting from getting worse; it happened in Tennessee as well.
Saint Gabriel Possenti, pray for us.
