Warning: Vicars advised not to wear their dog collars in public because they are more likely to be attacked
Posted on 10/07/2007 11:28:49 AM PDT by Stoat
Warning: Vicars advised not to wear their dog collars in public because they are more likely to be attacked
Vicars are being advised to take off their dog collars when they go out while off duty to reduce the risk of being attacked by yobs.
New advice states that even the Archbishop of Canterbury should remove his dog collar outside church.
Priests should also seek the company of "guardian angels" to reduce the risk of being assaulted and protect vicarages by installing a number of security devices.
A new report by National Churchwatch, an independent organisation which provides clergy with personal safety advice, warns priests are often targeted more than other professions as they are considered unlikely to fight back.
Falling congregations and an education system which focuses on understanding all faiths has made the Church of England priest more at risk.
The report states: "A knock on effect of this is that attacking a member of the clergy is seen by most criminals as no different to attacking a shopkeeper, robbing an old lady or any other member of society, if their own motivation demands this action."
Five vicars have been murdered in the past decade, and a 2001 study found that 12 per cent of clergy had suffered some form of violence.
Around half of all assaults on clergy occur away from the vicarage and the report highlighted the importance of the "clerical collar" in making them more vulnerable.
"The fact that clergy are clearly identifiable away from their place of work/home raises the risk of them meeting a motivated offender who uses violence as a method of achieving their aims," the report states.
Author Nick Tolson said the warning about not wearing dog collars at all time was relevant to all clergy, including the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He said: "When they are on their own, and when they are off duty, for example when they are also doing their shopping in Tesco on their own, there is no need for them to wear their dog collars."
Mr Tolson said: "For some clergy this is real radical stuff. The argument against it is it's their witness in the community - their way of saying, 'hello, I'm the vicar.'
"That's fine when you're being the vicar. If you're visiting someone or going to an old people's home, wear your dog collar. That means you're with people. It's when you're on your own, that's the key thing.
"There are times when you can be in church on your own and you look out and see some guy who's obviously off his trolley. You may want to slip off the dog collar before you see him."
The report also recommends clergy make "lifestyle changes" to reduce the times when they are alone. The mere presence in the church or at home of a family member, parishioner or churchworker "reduces the chance of violence to a very low statistical probability."
Vicars should not invite people they don't know to their homes and they are advised to implement basic security measures.
These include installation of front door "spy hole" or CCTV to see who is at the door, a door design that stops the person outside from seeing in, an intercom to communicate with a visitor and there should be no letter boxes on entry doors.
The report concludes that clergy should follow the basic personal safety rules to protect themselves and to set an example to other members of the community.
The most recent murder of a vicar happened in March this year.
Father Paul Bennett, 59, was stabbed in the grounds of his church in Trecynon, near Aberdare, South Wales. Geraint Evans, 24, a local resident, is due to stand trial for his murder.
When I first started work in an English bank at age sixteen, my boss gave us some sage advice.......
Don't marry a vicar, ladies. They have no money.
That’s HOT! Where can I get one of those?
If you ask him nicely you might be able to, um, talk him out of one...
"Democrat Underground" would probably be a promising place to start looking. They probably have numerous online kiosks and live video chat options to assist prospective customers in the most personable ways imaginable....
Anglican ping
When I first started work in an English bank at age sixteen, my boss gave us some sage advice.......
Don't marry a vicar, ladies. They have no money.
These days it seems that they not only have no money, but they are also not allowed to maintain their dignity in public either and are being asked to conceal themselves, their calling and their mission when out in public.
They are being treated like the criminals who caused this 'advisory' to begin with.
It seems that it won't be long before they will be treated like Christians in China or in many islamic countries, where Christians need to hide themselves and their Faith for fear of an unplanned martyrdom......
.
Even hardened Anglicans ocassionally call the all-around "dog-collars" "Roman Collars." Anglican priests also wear the Roman cassock, or something very like it, and until the 30's, frock coats and "gaiters," clerical breeches, looking like tight golf knickers with round buttons up the outseam. But no one mugged them!
But nothing should surprise anyone about the disgusting behaviour of England's yobbos, not after their activities at soccer matches. They have nothing to do, no education, no manners, plenty of alcohol and dope, and a good deal of Mum and Dad's money + the dole.
And they are just as disgustingly tattooed and pierced as the American yobbos on display at your local Wal-Mart, just maybe not as fat.
(that's an aerial bomb, which was left on his doorstep as a present by the local Communist party . . . Don Camillo was definitely a priest you didn't mess around with . . . )
Comments?
Yes. They look smashing with leather chaps and mesh shirts.
/SARC
Don Camillo...I like him. :)
You don't look for finesse in a rag like that.
(. . . and it's just silly to compare "dog collar" to the utterly pejorative words you quoted. It's slangy and mildly disrespectful, but nothing along those lines.)
Even so, this is a priest with whom one does NOT mess!
No...I have to admit I didn’t know who this person was. I will try to get the book and read it. Sounds really good...thanks!!!
Mr. Guareschi was an Italian newspaper columnist, and the Don Camillo books began as a column in the paper Candido (I think that's the right name). He was also a WWII veteran and former POW in a German concentration camp. The books are well-written (and well-translated) and usually turn on the rivalry between the very Catholic and very conservative Don Camillo and the Communist mayor, Peppone.
And one who was operating within a society that allowed it's members to defend their own lives, and not be forced to seek out the euphemistically-named "Guardian Angels" to protect them (the only allowed protection, however, being a slightly greater number of equally-defenseless people) every time they need to go to the supermarket or work in their gardens..
It may be interesting, but most likely saddening, to peruse the document from which this article is derived. To American sensibilities, I would characterize the tone as breathtakingly condescending in it's apparent characterization of it's audience as utterly helpless and naive babes in the woods who have zero comprehension of the realities of the world around them. Not being able to claim multiple British Vicars as close personal friends, I don't know whether that tone and characterization is appropriate for it's audience or not.
The document is a 22 page PDF file linked at the National Churchwatch's homepage
http://www.nationalchurchwatch.com/the_clergy_lifestyle_theory.pdf
Hey, thanks for all that information. I’ll check it out.
Paraphrasing..........
“If you are ashamed of me on earth, I will be ashamed of you at the last judgment.”
“If you are ashamed of me on earth, I will be ashamed of you at the last judgment.”
Entirely appropriate and relevant, thank you.
I would suggest also that if there is truly Justice in the Universe, the ones who should be most harshly judged, as in your statement, should be those who have placed the clergy in the UK in the awkward and untenable position of having, apparently, no other legal option than to conduct themselves as though they are ashamed of God and of their worthy Mission, which I'm sure they are not.
It is indeed entirely shameful that the Government has created a situation where the clergy must apparently cower and hide like frightened little rabbits, lest they be cut down by marauding hordes of thugs who brazenly and shamelessly run wild thanks entirely to the Government's breathtaking incompetence.
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