Dublin parishes may soon see armoured vans pulling up outside after
Sunday Mass to whisk away the collection for safe-keeping in a bid to
tighten up security.
In a pilot project proposed by the archdiocesan
financial authorities, local parishes are being offered the services of
cash-in-transit vans and security companies to ensure a safe transition
from church to bank of the the weekly collections.
As parish incomes fall as a result of the recession Church
authorities are worried that some parishes have inadequate security
procedures around the Sunday collection that could leave volunteer
collectors and counters vulnerable to attack by armed raiders.
However,
some priests expressed concern that the use of professional security
guards and cash-in-transit vans could send out the wrong message at a
time when many parishes are struggling to get more lay people involved
in their community.
Ide Finnegan, Dublin Diocesan Financial Controller confirmed to The
Irish Catholic this week that the programme was being rolled out across
the diocese.
''It's up to the parishes if they want to become involved
or not,'' she said, ''it's entirely voluntary, but, we'd probably need
about a dozen parishes using the service to run the pilot programme.
''Obviously due to the nature of Sunday collections parishes are
dealing predominately in cash, I've become concerned about the prospect
of leaving cash in safes for periods of time and even parishioners,
sometimes elderly parishioners, having to take responsibility for
transferring cash to the bank,'' Ms Finnegan said.
Parishes will be able to count their own money and then entrust it to
the cash-in-transit service for deposit in the parish bank account or
they can have the security firm collect the cash, count it and then
transfer it to the bank''.
Ms Finnegan said that the recently enacted
Charities Act is causing parishes and other Church agencies to be more
conscious of their precautions around cash handling.