The latest gaming craze, Pokemon Go, is leading users into all kinds of unexpected places – even churches!

The Catholic News Agency (CNA) is reporting on  incidents of players turning up in the parking lot of churches because the location has been designated as a Pokestop – a place where Pokemon monsters can be captured.

It’s all part of a newly released mobile game app by Niantic Labs that uses a smartphone’s GPS to catch virtual Pokemon who are “hiding” in real-world locations.

As the Daily Mail explains, players, known as Poketrainers, travel between the real world and the virtual world of Pokemon to capture the monsters which hide in various locations such as in the grass, streams, air, etc. In a kind of virtual scavenger hunt, as users move around the virtual map, their smartphone vibrates to let them know a Pokemon is near.

Once discovered, gamers throw a “PokeBall” at the creature in an attempt to capture it and add it to their collection. Players then “train” their Pokemon to battle against other creatures at “gyms” which are actual landmarks. There are more than 722 species of Pokemon available for capture around the globe.

Since the introduction of the game to the U.S. on July 6, Pokemon Go has exploded. Thus far, it has been installed on more Android devices than Tinder and is already threatening to overtake Twitter in the number of active users.

“Roughly three percent of the US Android population is playing Pokémon Go, and this figure is climbing, with more than 60 percent of these users on the app every day,” the Mail reports.

As a result, players are turning up in unexpected places, such as outside the rectory of Cristo Rey parish in Lincoln, Nebraska where the pastor was recently woken up at 12:30 a.m. by a person outside his window shouting, “I caught one!”

Thankfully, Father Ryan Kaup was somewhat prepared because he had overhead some children talking about the game after Mass one day, saying that one of the monsters was “hiding” in the parish hall. He decided to download the game to see what it was all about.

That’s when he figured out that he lived at a Pokéstop.

It also explained why he’s been noticing several cars slow down as they drive by, or pull up into the parking lot for a few minutes. He has already informed the parish secretary to expect to see increased traffic around the parish as the gaming craze gains momentum.

“I told her that it’s a great opportunity to engage them and invite them in to pray,” he said.

“Cristo Rey being a Pokéstop brings people to our doors who never would have come otherwise…I’m toying with the idea of putting up a sign outside that says ‘Pokéstop. Come in and say hello!’ or something along those lines. Any chance we get to share the Gospel is a good thing.”

But not everything about the game is praiseworthy, especially not after iPhone users discovered that a glitch in the software has caused them to give away access to their entire Google account.

Niantic was forced to issue an embarrassing apology this week over the security gaffe and is promising to fix it.

“However, Pokémon GO only accesses basic Google profile information (specifically, your User ID and email address) and no other Google account information is or has been accessed or collected,” the firm told Recode.

“Once we became aware of this error, we began working on a client-side fix to request permission for only basic Google profile information, in line with the data that we actually access.”

Security expert Adam Reeve told the Mail that he considers the gaffe to be the result of “epic carelessness” more than any deliberate intention on Niantic’s part of planning some global personal information heist. Nevertheless, he has deleted his account.

“ . . . I don’t know anything about Niantic’s security policies. I don’t know how well they will guard this awesome new power they’ve granted themselves, and frankly I don’t trust them at all,” Reeve said. “I’ve revoked their access to my account, and deleted the app. I really wish I could play, it looks like great fun, but there’s no way it’s worth the risk.”

These aren’t the only risks with Pokemon, however. Pokemon, which means “pocket monster” was created in 1996 by Nintendo in Japan and is essentially a role-playing card game for children which involves cards containing at least 150 different “monsters.” Each “monster” has special powers and children aim to collect as many Pokemon cards as possible in order to use their special powers against other people’s Pokemon.

There are different categories of Pokemon such as psychic Pokemon who can read minds, hypnotize, and “consume” people’s dreams. Poison Pokemon rely on poison, stealth, silence, and the breaking of opponents’ bones to get their way. Electric Pokemon resort to lightning bolts and explosions to overcome their opponents.

Some of the cards contain occult symbols such as Kadabra who sports a pentagram on his forehead, SSS on his chest and is depicted giving the satanic salute with his left hand.

Many say this is all just a game, but not according to the website. It takes this game much further by encouraging children to “carry your Pokemon with you, and you’re ready for anything! You’ve got the power in your hands, so use it!” The game sets no real boundaries as to when and where children can use the “powers” behind these little monsters, which explains why children are often seen mimicking the game in real life by summoning their Pokemon to attack people they don’t like.

Only time will tell how long the new Pokemon Go craze will last but, as Father Kaup is doing, many Christians are preparing to use the app to expose gamers to a whole different kind of power!

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