An English bishop has criticised Catholic churches that remain locked for most of the day and called on them to stay open like their Anglican counterparts.
Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth tweeted about a trip he made outside of his diocese during which he failed to find a single Catholic church that was open. Although he did not name the churches or the area he was visiting, he also ridiculed the 'utter hypocrisy' of one church which had a sign saying 'From Maintenance to Mission'.
The bishop wrote: 'Why oh why?! Just spent a few days outside the Diocese but every Catholic church I tried to visit was locked. One even had the utter hypocrisy to display a poster "From Maintenance to Mission"! Why is this, when every Anglican Church is welcomely open?'
Pope Francis has said that the doors of Catholic churches around the world must remain open despite security fears.
In November 2015, following the Paris terror attacks, the Pope said: 'Please, no armoured doors in the Church, everything open. There are places in the world where doors should not be locked with a key. There are still some but there are also many where armoured doors have become the norm.
'We must not surrender to the idea that we must apply this way of thinking to every aspect of our lives. To do so to the Church would be terrible.'
Pope Francis is currently visiting Chile, where three churches were bombed ahead of his trip last week.
