El Paso man upset church allows carrying of concealed guns during church service

An El Paso man is not happy with the way his church is handling security, more than nine months after the shooting massacre at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

Dion Dorado told ABC-7 he was outraged when he learned St. Matthew Catholic Church would continue to allow those with a license to carry to carry a concealed weapon during church services.

“That has always been an understanding: you don’t bring a weapon into God’s house,” Dorado said, “There are parishioners who feel so unsafe that someone is going to walk in and kill the parishioners inside the church during services.”

In the State of Texas, churches and businesses need to display a 30.06 sign to prevent license-to-carry holders from bringing a concealed weapon into the church or a 30.07 sign to prevent an open carried weapon.

ABC-7 went to St. Matthew Catholic Church and noticed it does not have either of those signs, which means parishioners are allowed to carry guns into church if they do have the proper licensing.

In a recorded statement sent to ABC-7, El Paso Catholic Diocese Bishop Mark Seitz said, “We would definitely prefer that people who are not certified law enforcement personnel to not bring weapons into church. I have given pastors the option of posting (signs) on their churches so that no one without that authorization can carry their guns into church.”

Rev. Frank R. Lopez, the pastor at St. Matthew Roman Catholic Church, sent ABC-7 the following statement:

“Along with all our parishes in our diocese, we are in the beginning process of implementing a safety program for all parishes. The Diocese of El Paso has already established a plan that pastors are obligated to implement. We are simply in the first phase of establishing this policy and are discussing the options that law enforcement officials have suggested to us. The focus of our conversation and planning is not strictly about guns, but plan an effective way to protect and educate our parishioners on how to respond to any tragedy, emergencies, and the protection and safety of our children from all harm.”

Ultimately, it’s up to each parish to decide wether concealed weapons have a place in sacred spaces.

ABC-7 reached out to Pastor Bobby Garcia at Grace Christian Center, an Assemblies of God Church. While Garcia doesn’t allow open carry for the comfort of some church members, he has no problem with legal concealed carry.

“If you got some people who are packing and got somebody who is going to come into your church, acting a fool, and try to bust caps on people, then you know those people who are legally carrying could actually be a defense for you,” Garcia said.