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Parish angered by 3 LDS missionaries

This is appalling. Completely shocking and hard to believe. I think they'll be sent home and deservedly so.

This is NOT what we are about. The damage that they've done to trust and friendly relations in the community is profound.

It is pleasing to see that one of the young men, with hindsight, finds his conduct appalling. I hope that the parishioners can forgive, and that the young men can be truly remorseful and do their best to make amends. That would be the best outcome for all of them, in the circumstances.

Let the Mormon hating begin.

well to tell the truth I made a lot of fun as well of catholic symbols on my mission in southern Italy, as most of missionaries did. Pretending to confess in a confessional and preach from the book of mormon from an altar are must-take-pictures for nearly all the missionaries laboring in cathoilc places. Immature? Probably so. consider they are 19 yo boys mocked and often oppressed by the catholic church itself.

What a shame. President Hinckley taught to respect other religions. The articles of faith say to let everyone worship how they see fit.

This behavior is not taught by the Mormon church, but while serving an LDS mission in Texas I saw and heard the same types of disrespect by missionaries.

I think the world can be a better place as we learn to be more tolerant and respectful of all people regardless of religous belief, skin color, or wealth status. Teach it your kids, and live it, and I think the world can be better.

wow.

Dumb, dumb, dumb. There is no excuse for missionaries acting like this. They made a conscious choice to act in this way and now they are going to have to face the consequences. I wouldn't expect folks in this area of Colorado to have any interest in what a LDS missionary might have to say for quite a while. The worst part of this whole ordeal, however, is the pain felt by the members of the parish. I've seen first-hand the effort that goes into maintaining a parish community and their devotion to their beliefs deserved the utmost respect from those missionaries.

Thankfully, the missionaries in the area I live worked to help restore a Methodist Church that had suffered some damage in storm a few weeks ago. In fact, 6 of the 10 folks who showed up to offer help were LDS. That sort of thing is true to our heritage, but I'm sure those missionaries were unaware of the fact that Catholic mass was given in the unfinished Nauvoo temple for a time thanks to the religious tolerance of Joseph Smith.

Bottom line: my deepest sympathies to those hurt by this situation. God bless.

Having served a mission in Colorado, I'm appalled at this. What those missionaries did will doubtless be characterized as typical of the LDS Church, or somehow the result of the Church's character or teachings. It may be used to undo the goodwill that the rest of us have worked so long to foster. It has hurt both the Catholic parish and the LDS Church.

Very, very sad.

This parish has every right to be angry. These three missionaries have committed what certainly amounts to a hate crime.

I'm an LDS graduate student at a Catholic school. I have been treated with tremendous respect and kindness since my arrival. I can't imagine any Catholic person I know doing anything like what these missionaries have done.

How can we expect respect from others, if we can't give it ourselves? (See Matthew 7:12)

I am heartsick after reading this. I served a mission to Italy for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I paid for half of my mission and an anonymous donor covered the rest. I worked 70 hours a week trying to love and serve the Italians. We spent many hours each week on Italian farms and at hospitals and asylums trying to follow the example of Jesus Christ. When I heard about this incident I felt heartsick- almost like vomiting. This kind of thing has so much power to damage my faith's reputation with the Catholic people, a people I have come to deeply love and respect. My prayer is that these boys will repent and spend their lives proving the sincerity of their repentance. I also pray that the Catholic people can please forgive us for this isolated incident and choose to remember the good that most of our 19 year-old boys do. The net effect is good, I assure you, but this kind of behavior is absolutely sickening and tragic.

It's a pretty half hearted apology to say ie-"I know what I did was wrong because my own church has suffered so much discrimination." Even most of the posts decrying this horrible act end slipping something in about how wonderful most Mormons are.

Alma said it best- speaking to his son Corianton: "Behold, O my son, how great iniquity ye brought upon the Zoramites; for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words.
And now the Spirit of the Lord doth say unto me: Command thy children to do good, lest they lead away the hearts of many people to destruction; therefore I command you, my son, in the fear of God, that ye refrain from your iniquities;"

(Book of Mormon | Alma 39:11 - 12)

Send them home and let the legal process take its course. No excuses. These missionaries and their choices/actions should be separated from the LDS Church, just as child molesting priests should be separated from the Catholic Church. Yes, they represent the Church but the Church shouldn't be judged by the actions and choices of a select few. Let the hammer fall baby!

I suggest to you that missionaries mocking other religions is very common. This will continue to happen until there's some sensitivity training in the missionary program. Pres. Hinckley saying "respect other religions" in Conf. doesn't cut it. It's sad that more training is required, but it's very, very necessary.

One missionary got sent home. The other two missionaries had already completed their missions. It is still a sad situation to be in and is downright embarrassing.

I have been a Catholic and now a member of the LDS faith. I would never have considered doing something so appalling--no matter which religion I was a member of. It is so sad to see these young men act so hypocritical. Sometimes the ones who serve missions are only pretending to have "raised the bar" of their standards, which seems to be the case here. It certainly is not a good example for future missionaries.

Ron, quite interesting. You seem to justify these actions by your own immature behavior. And then you insult and criticize the Catholic Church (The Church in Italy) and imply they deserved it. Talk about a religious bigot. Just how frequently does this disrepect of other people and religions happen? "Must take" pictures? Do I paint all mormon missionaries with the same ultra wide brush?

Some of you take this stuff WAY TOO SERIOUSLY! Was it wrong? Of course! But this was no hate crime! These kids were goofing around, not intentionally trying to destroy Catholicism. You people are probably the same people who think that all children should be on Ritalin and that every mischievious thought should be expelled from mankind. Reminds me of the book 1984.
I know as a kid I did a lot of things that I thought was funny without even realizing that it might be offensive to somebody else. And I'm sure everyone reading this has done the same. Once I found out that it was offensive, of course I felt bad; just like these kids (at least 1 of them) now feel bad. It's not like they dragged people into the street to tar and feather them.
I've been spat on, punched, and hit by a pick-up truck as a missionary. I acknowledge that most of those incidents were a bunch of people trying to impress their friends and be funny. But come on people! Don't you think you're being a bit too hard on these kids? It should be addressed by the mission president/parents; and that's it.

You sir are a fool. Yes, "Boys will be Boys" happens. But not when you are a missionary. Speaking as an RM from a very Catholic Germany I can say that I never once had the desire to mock or deface the Catholic Church. I knew far to many truly good and devout people that were Catholic and would never insult them by mocking their choice of religion.

These fools( and yes, they are fools ) deserver what ever punishment that is mete out to them. They have done far more harm to the Church's reputation when they had been called to be ambassadors, and good examples of the LDS faith. Instead they have mocked and insulted millions of people.

My wife sent me the link to this story. I am currently serving overseas in a combat zone. I am LDS. The only one in my 60 man Barracks. To make light of this incident would be as foolish as the missionaries who committed this crime. This is a dangerous world we live in. Over here people are found slaughtered in the streets for having different religious beliefs. Shiites kill Sunni�s; Sunni�s kill Shiites all for the sake of their beliefs. I praise the Sangre de Christo parish for their patience and forgiveness of the missionaries that committed this crime. I don't believe I personally could have been as forgiving. These missionaries are criminals and should be treated as such. They deserve all of the penalties and embarrassment they have brought upon themselves and their families.
After all that I have seen. I feel that I have the right to be harsh.
Ron,
You are lucky you got away with it. I would have sent you to jail...