Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS

Tired of having his homilies interrupted by beeping cell phones, a priest in Italy has installed a jamming device that won’t allow calls to get through to phones inside his church.

According to The Daily Mail, Father Michele Madonna from Santa Maria di Montesanto church in Naples said he first tried to address the problem by putting up signs asking people to switch off their cell phones once inside the Church.

But that didn’t work for long.

“Phones were always going off during Mass and at other events like funerals,” he said.

“What really annoyed me is that when it first started people would switch off their phones in embarrassment now they are cupping their hands over the receiver and carrying on talking.”

After receiving the necessary approvals from local police, he contacted an engineer who installed an inexpensive jamming device in the church.

Finally, the phones stopped ringing!

But now local businesses are complaining that the device is blocking credit and debit card transactions in their stores.

“Since Father Madonna started using the jammer I’ve had real problems using my card swiper for payments,” one shop owner complained.

“It just doesn’t work and I’m losing money. Others are in the same position – I understand how he feels but what about us? This is our busiest time of the year.”

To think all of this trouble could be avoided if people would just do without their cell phone for one hour on a Sunday morning.

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