TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Church safety is on the minds of church leaders here locally. Two shootings within two months, one in a Minneapolis Catholic school and now the deadly attack in a Michigan church. We’re breaking down some of those safety changes.
An entrance and exit strategy and a security committee. These are just two of the safety measures on the table in light of these tragedies.
“A wake-up call for sure,” said Father Jason Kahle, Priest/Pastor at Little Flower Catholic Church.
Just one day after four people were killed and eight others were hurt in a shooting at a Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church in Michigan, local parishes are now questioning their security.
“From just assuming that we’re safe and we’re secure, we’re a Catholic church, who would ever want to come and hurt or do any damage or cause any violence? Certainly, this has been… definitely an eye-opener for us,” said Father Kahle.
He said they’ve already had safety measures in place, such as having a resource officer on the property during Thursday mass. They’ve also decreased entry and exit points to the church to limit accessibility.
“The worst we want to be is reactionary; we’re hoping to be proactive with some things that we’re trying to put into place,” said Father Kahle.
One of those is a safety and security training being offered in November and creating a safety committee.
Across town in Maumee, leaders at Saint Joseph Catholic Church are looking at what they can do to create an environment that’s welcoming while still keeping people safe.
“We can’t check IDs and put people through metal detectors per say, but at the same time, and a lot of it is that we are a big place, we’re growing so there’s new faces all the time, but sort of identifying those new faces and then knowing what to look for in a person, what kind of attributes would they have that wouldn’t look normal,” said Deacon Joe Malenfant, the Pastoral Associate at Saint Joesph Catholic Church Maumee.
Deacon Malenfant told 13 Action News they’re equipped with security cameras, automatic locking doors and fobs to track when people come in and out. They also have an officer at morning mass.
Both leaders say these policies will help them stay vigilant.
“If the worst were to happen, I want to be able to look in the mirror and say we did everything we could,” said Deacon Malenfant. “I think it’s really important that we owe that to our school kids, to our families, to everybody here that we’re doing absolutely everything that we can.”
You’ve heard the saying, “It could never happen here.” But now leaders know it could, which is why they are prioritizing safety.
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-09-29 18:55:00
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