California churchgoers called the cops on three strange men they thought were skin heads - but the bald trio turned out to be Marines looking for a buddy.
"They have short Marine haircuts, and someone perceives that they're skinheads, and that they were intimidating people," San Bernardino County sheriff's Sgt. Frank Gonzales told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin of Ontario, Calif. "It turns out that was not the case, and they were very polite."
It all began April 24 at Spanish-language mass at St. Peter and St. Paul Roman Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga, about 40 miles east of Los Angeles.
During the service, three bald men in civilian clothes came in and sat down.
Before Mass had even finished, the three suddenly got up, walked to the front of the room, turned and faced the congregation in silence for a few moments - and then left.
"It was very disrespectful," said parishioner Aida Nordahl, who said she and her fellow congregants were put ill at ease.
The next Sunday, May 1, the three men came back, sitting among worshippers and talking to each other during Mass.
That's when someone in the congregation called the sheriff's department.
The three men told deputies that they'd just returned from service in Iraq and were looking for a friend they though might attend services at the church.
When they didn't see him in the congregation the first time, they came back a week later.
The Rev. Patrick Kirsch explained what had happened to relieved parishioners, and said he considered the matter closed.
"We don't want to make it more than it is," he said. "I was reassured by the police that [the men] wouldn't be back."
...just wanted to see what the blog family thinks about this story...
2 comments:
I can imagine being nervous seeing ANY 3 people I've never seen before stand up in the FRONT of the church & looking back towards me & the congregation. No one does that unless they're confessing or asking for prayers. I only wish someone would have talked to them BEFORE getting the police involved. All the priest would have had to do is to ask if they needed anything. Communication - DUH!
That three strangers could enter an assembly of Christians and be allowed to leave without knowing what they were looking for disturbs me. It hopefully will frighten me enough that I will not let a stranger get out of my assembly without being spoken to.
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