A pregnant mother seated with her baby at church was threatened with arrest after church officials called the police on her for not wearing a face mask.
Deirdre Hairston said that she was led out of Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Dallas for not masking. It was her parish priest, Father Ryan, who called the police, she said. There is no statewide mask mandate in Texas.
Hairston related the troubling incident on a podcast with Dr. Taylor Marshall, and showed the video of the officers approaching her where she sat and demanding that she leave the church.
She said that the eucharist was "still on her tongue." The moments after taking the Holy Communion are meant as a time for silent reflection and prayer.
Hairston told Taylor that she was told the church wanted her to leave. The video shows an officer telling this pregnant mother who is holding her one-year-old baby that they would "place her in handcuffs" if she didn't comply. The reflection music can be heard in the background.
"Am I getting arrested?" Hairston asks the officer.
"No, not right now. But if you don't listen you will be arrested," the officer says.
"What's the crime?" Hairston asks from her kneeled position.
"The church does not want y'all here," the officer responds. Hairston reported that the officer also said she was trespassing.
While her baby cries, the officers can be heard to say "this is a business, they do not want you here." Hairston said she's not breaking the law.
Taylor remarks that "church is not a business," and recounts the story of Jesus entering the Temple in Jerusalem during passover week, the last week of his life, and casting out those who were only there to profit from the faithful.
Officers then asked for her ID as they took her out of the worship service, along with her child. An usher took photos of her license plate, and she was ticketed for trespassing, reports local news.
Reactions from Twitter were clear, direct, and in line with Catholic teaching. "Repent," Jack Posobiec writes simply.
The church replied once the podcast was released, and said that this didn't happen. Instead, they said that Hairston was given a "trespass warning." Holy Trinity went on to say that masks are required at Sunday Mass, though Hairston, and her husband, both contend that this was "encouraged," but not required.
The church said they have the expectation that people will mask, however, stating that they want "the faithful to wear masks out of charity and concern for others."
A Facebook post from the Catholic Diocese of Dallas reads that "The young woman involved in this incident that occurred two weeks ago was not arrested or tickets. She was issued a trespass warning.
"The pastor of the parish has required masks at Mass out of concern for the health and welfare of his entire congregation. Canon law grants pastors jurisdiction over their parishes, and while the bishop has not mandated masks for every parish, he has left these specific details to the pastors of the Diocese, adding that he expects the faithful to wear masks out of charity and concern for others. We recognize that not everyone can wear masks, but that those who can, should."
They go on to say that they are looking into the details of the incident.
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