On foot of a number of recent break-ins of priests’ houses, other
parish properties in the Archdiocese of Armagh and elsewhere,
representatives of crime prevention offices of both An Garda Siochana
and the Police Service of Northern Ireland have recently met with a
large gathering of priests and bishops from the Archdiocese of Armagh.
The purpose of this briefing was to discuss the personal safety of
priests and to inform them of best practice concerning the security of
money which has been received from the local parish collections at Mass.
Cardinal Brady said, “At this time I am particularly conscious that
many elderly people in our community, as well as our priests, feel
vulnerable about their personal safety. I ask parishioners to remain
vigilant concerning suspicious activity in and around parish properties.
Any concerns should be reported to the police immediately.”