Posted on 11/06/2004 7:02:23 AM PST by kAcknor
Parishioners protest firing of pistol packing priest
Friday, November 5, 2004 Posted: 7:34 PM EST (0034 GMT)
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Reuters) -- Angry parishioners chained shut a church in central Mexico on Friday in protest at the sacking of their priest, whose habit of tucking a gun under his robes has earned him fame and the nickname "Padre Pistolas."
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(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
S Bump
In the modern world normally priests don't pack weapons, but I don't think there's any law against it. If there is, it is a prudential law, like eating fish on Fridays, not a matter of permanent doctrine.
If he were a religious priest (a monk or a friar) it would probably be another matter. But in the middle ages even bishops on occasion wore armor and carried swords into battle. I believe a priest is permitted to defend himself and his flock against violence.
Via con Dios!
Viva Padre Pistolas!
I know a Methodist minister right here in the good ol' USA who packs a .45 (legally).
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Angry parishioners have chained shut a church in central Mexico in protest at the sacking of their priest, whose habit of tucking a gun under his robes has earned him fame and the nickname "Padre Pistolas".
Hundreds of people from the town of Chucandiro demonstrated outside the cathedral in the city of Morelia after Catholic church leaders there defrocked their gunslinging priest, Alfredo Gallegos, local media reported.
"We have closed the church with chains and that's how it will stay until Father Alfredo comes back," protester Gilberto Moron was quoting as saying on Friday, adding that locals would accept no other priest.
Gallegos is wildly popular with parishioners but has angered his Catholic superiors with his habit of wearing a shiny pistol beneath his robes, despite strict laws in Mexico banning private citizens from carrying guns.
Also known for his love of cowboy boots and country music, Gallegos says he only carries a gun for protection, noting several of his friends have been killed over the years.
Locals say he has brought them huge social benefits, helping the marginalized and raising money for roads and hospital projects. "He has united us as a people," said Moron.
Church leaders gave no reason for sacking the priest.
Both of my Pastor's carry.
Oops, they don't carry during church though!
I agree. But the story implies (while avoiding saying it outright) that the Bishop or other Church leaders disagree to the point they fired him.
Those sound like code words for a "liberation theology" leftist to me.
Why not? Do they think that because the choir is singing it will stop a determined bad guy out to steal the collection plate? ;)
Seriously, if a crazy or determined idiot wishes to get his name in the paper he won't do it by attacking the Pastor alone.
Yea, they do don't they?
So what? If he wishes to be able to defend himself while preaching leftist drivel he has my support (for the right to self defense part anyway). :)
He was fired for preaching capitalism, and making communism look bad. He used private funding for civic improvments.
If that's the case, it wasn't for having a pistol or making a Communism look bad. It was for making the local politicians look bad! Doesn't matter if those pols are elected, appointed or ordained by G*d.
He must have been doing a good job of it.
baloney. the Catholic Church regularly backs "forbidden" ideas.
Not being Catholic I'll defer to your apparent knowledge. But if you are going to try and convince me that the Church isn't political, forget it.
Whether the Priest was fired for having a gun, or for peeing off the local bigwigs (Government or Church) for making them look bad, this is political.
it doesn't take any special knowledge to see that being unwaveringly pro-life, upholding the sanctity of marriage, maintaining moral authority in the face of the misdeads of some of its leaders, or denying communion to a very popular politician are stands that are, in the minds of many, forbidden.
Do you extend the same tolerance for bearing arms to the imans in the mosques in Falluja?
Yes, I guess I do.
I hope you aren't attempting to confuse the issue here. I am talking about a right to self defense, and you seem to be implying a right to use arms offensively.
I'm not saying that at all. I believe that every human being has the right to self defense. Be they Priests, Imams, big time politicians or somebody living in a tenement who scrapes together enough to buy a used Highpoint 9mm.
The alternative is to allow that somebody can say one can't defend themselves. If I believe somebody can take that basic fundamental human right from anyone, I then admit the same (or others) have the right to take it from me, or you.
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