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One group in Arizona has been training Catholic men to provide security for their parishes for about five years.

“Unfortunately, today is an example of why it’s needed,” said Brian Eaton, the founder of Porters of St. Joseph, an apostolate of volunteer men who, according to its website, seek “to imitate St. Joseph as the Protector of the Holy Church, Pillar of Families, and Terror of Demons.”

“We don’t live in the world that I grew up in. That world has gone away. The Church is always changing and adapting to the challenges, spiritually and physically, in any moment in time,” Eaton told the Register in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Eaton, 45, a police officer in Arizona, said he was surprised when he entered the Catholic Church in June 2020 how little security he saw.

When he was an evangelical Christian, Eaton used his experience in the U.S. Army and in law enforcement to assist in providing security for his church, something he said is common among other religious groups.

“As a law enforcement professional, the Catholic Church is light years behind other faith communities as far as protecting our parishes,” Eaton told the Register. While security at Catholic churches varies, it isn’t a priority in most parishes.

Catholic schools across the country routinely run lockdown drills and some have security officers on hand. But that isn’t the case at most Catholic churches during Mass and other church events.

https://www.ncregister.com/news/mcdonald-mckeown-parish-security