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Unholy words startle, anger parishioners at Mass

Expletives boomed through the church's sound system.

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER
Published April 3, 2007

PORT RICHEY - The priest switched on his microphone and started Palm Sunday service at noon.

The congregation gathered outside St. James the Apostle Catholic Church to begin Mass. Father Gregory Andrews spoke into a microphone, blessing the palms. Minutes later, he turned off the mike.

The crowd solemnly headed inside to continue the service.

They read a Scripture and sang the words from the book of Psalms in the Old Testament, words also said by Jesus before his death:

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Then, an unfamiliar voice cut in.

"Yo homey," followed by an expletive.

The crowd, however bothered, continued singing.

Seconds later, that expletive again echoed clearly through the church's sound system.

Some parishioners got up and left.

* * *

About eight men from the church headed outside, according to a report from the Pasco Sheriff's Office. They sought their own form of Old Testament-style justice.

A 17-year-old boy later told deputies that the men chased him and his friends after the incident, shouting a few of their own not-so-holy phrases.

One of the men, the teen said, ripped his T-shirt.

A report from the Sheriff's Office lists two suspects, ages 16 and 17, and two 17-year-old witnesses.

The Sheriff's Office withheld their names because they are minors.

The teens came across the microphone while hanging out in the gazebo near the church, the report said.

No one has been charged yet, although the Sheriff's Office is referring the matter to the State Attorney's Office for possible charges of disorderly conduct, trespassing or disrupting a lawful assembly.

* * *

S. Joseph Elliffe was playing the church organ when the disturbance began.

Elliffe thought the voice came from a taxi cab service. The church used to pick up radio waves from the taxi's dispatch.

But, he said, "we hadn't heard that in six years," since the church put in a new sound system.

Elliffe wondered where the mysterious voice came from.

Even so, Elliffe didn't want to break the flow of the service.

"I thought it was a private conversation," he said, "so I kept playing."

Profanity-laced outbursts never happen in church, Elliffe said. Especially, he said, while reciting Scripture.

"This was an interruption of a very solemn part of the Mass."

[Last modified April 2, 2007, 23:16:13]