Officials Close Church During Mass

Carson officials, saying a church was left unsafe by unauthorized remodeling, broke into a Sunday Mass during the “Our Father” and forced the priest and dozens of worshipers from the building.

Yellow tape barring entry still crosses the doors of Santuario de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe more than a week after city officials, flanked by sheriff’s deputies, ordered Pastor Efren Cortez, his organist, Octavio Gonzalez, and the congregation to leave the church.

The surprise confrontation marked an escalation of a simmering dispute between the church and the city over whether the building on East Carson Street, built in 1998, is structurally sound.

Cortez and other witnesses said some parishioners started crying, while others tried to defy officials. Cortez said he attempted to continue with the Mass, even after authorities disconnected his microphone and closed his Bible.

Cortez admits taking down a wall without a permit to accommodate his fast-growing congregation, but he said officials have wrongly assumed that the wall supported the roof. For authorities to barge in while he was leading the congregation in the “Our Father” was shameful, he said.

“I never would expect what they did to me,” said Cortez, a pastor in the Old Catholic Church, which is independent of the Roman Catholic Church. “The Mass is the most sacred thing we have in our faith.”

Carson City Manager Jerry Groomes said Monday that the matter “was not handled in a way that was acceptable. The service should not have been interrupted. There’s no excuse for that, and apologies have been extended.”

But Groomes said that for weeks the city had urged church officials to correct the violations. “I think it was bad judgment,” on the city’s part, he said, “as well as bad judgment for the church to continue to use it.”

Videotaped footage taken by a congregant after the Mass, shows a Carson public safety employee blaming Cortez for the action. “You agreed not to occupy this building, and you did it,” the official says on the tape.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Nick Burns denied complaints that police had been heavy-handed. He said city officials had requested the presence of the deputies. “They were there simply to keep the peace.”

The controversy threatens to boil over in the weeks to come. Congregants last week waved signs at a City Council meeting, and are planning a protest rally for next Tuesday. Meanwhile, Masses are being held under a tent in the church parking lot.

“It’s pretty embarrassing for the city,” said Councilman Jim Dear, who has questioned the actions of the Public Safety Department. “To have this raid during church services is very inappropriate and disrespectful.”

The dispute flared earlier this year, when Cortez decided to remove a wall to expand the seating capacity of his faux-adobe-style church. Cortez did so without getting a permit because he said city officials would have demanded more parking spaces, which he didn’t have. The city’s response, he said, was a complete surprise. Though a church closure was a possibility, Cortez said he never expected officials would interrupt a service to do it.

According to Cortez and several witnesses, deputies and city officials entered the church and stood near the altar. While the congregants were singing, an official stood in front of Cortez and told everyone to “shut up” and leave. When they refused, a deputy yanked the speaker cables for the microphone, the witnesses said.

Cortez continued with Communion, but several people, said witnesses, were unable to receive the sacrament because they were unable to get around deputies. “Que pasa? Que pasa? (What’s happening?),” said Fernanda Granados, recalling her reaction. “We were so surprised. Never in my life have I seen something like this happen, much less in a church.”

When Cortez prepared to give the final blessing, he said authorities closed his Bible and threatened to arrest him.

At that point, Cortez said he decided to finish the Mass in the parking lot. Children were crying and some parishioners were distraught, he said, adding that he didn’t want anyone to get arrested.

“I was concerned because a lot of women were crying and yelling to the cops, ‘Leave us alone. Let us finish.’ But I couldn’t because these guys surrounded me,” he said.

A city official, Cortez said, asked police to arrest him. Cortez believes deputies declined because they realized the confrontation stemmed from a political dispute. Though the city posted a “Do not enter” sign outside the church on the day of the incident, it is unclear when it was posted. Cortez said the building wasn’t condemned until after the congregants were removed.

Cortez, who has been holding as many as 10 services per weekend in the parking lot, now plans to comply with the city’s building codes by installing an arch to support the roof. A parking lot is in the works, he said. “Once it is completed,” he said, “we want them to approve it and leave us alone.”