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.
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