Disruptions at New Mexico Catholic parishes prompt security concerns, interfaith outreach

A man was charged with disturbing the peace after police said he pushed his way into the sanctuary during Mass at Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The incident marks the second time in the past two months that police have been called to an Albuquerque-area Catholic parish, following a gunpoint dispute in July.

Rio Rancho police responded to Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish on Aug. 23 after witnesses said Michael Chmura strode into the sanctuary and began shouting objections to the Catholic faith as he approached the priest before the distribution of Communion. A deacon serving the Mass told KOB 4 that he stepped between Chmura and the priest as other parishioners moved in. 

“He was coming towards Father, I stepped in front of him,” the deacon told police, adding that several other men helped push Chmura aside as he struggled against them.

Before arriving at the church, Chmura had posted publicly on social media that he planned to visit Catholic parishes across the Albuquerque metro area “to preach what Jesus has told me to do” regardless of objections from congregants. After he was detained, Chmura told officers he had been sent by God to preach to Catholics. Police released him, and he told officers he intended to file a complaint against the department. 

Saint Thomas Aquinas declined to comment on the incident, though a parish bulletin distributed afterward asked members to consider volunteering as ushers, noting that “ushers will be trained and ready to respond to a variety of incidents and emergencies” and acknowledging that an incident had recently occurred during Mass that required usher and parishioner intervention. Several other area churches told KOB 4 they had installed security cameras as a precaution. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe, in a statement to KOB 4, said it takes such incidents seriously and that “the safety and well-being of all who enter them remain a priority.”

The Rio Rancho incident followed a more serious confrontation weeks earlier at St. Therese of the Infant Jesus Catholic Church, just 10 miles south of St. Thomas Aquinas. The altercation was rooted in a monthslong dispute over a proposed North Valley mosque that has drawn broader interfaith attention in the city. 

Father Vincent Chávez, the parish’s pastor, had voiced public support for the mosque project at a July 1 Bernalillo County Planning Commission hearing. A local resident, Katrina Griego, recorded his brief remarks, posted them to Facebook and urged followers to call the Archdiocese of Santa Fe demanding the removal of Father Chávez and the parish’s associate priest, a campaign she continued through the month of July, according to multiple news accounts. Father Chávez responded by posting a message on the parish’s outdoor marquee reading, “Racism, a grave sin against God’s love,” with “Katrina G.” placed underneath the message.

Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe addressed the mosque dispute directly five days after the gun incident, issuing a statement supporting the project on July 27, as Zeale News previously reported. He wrote that Muslim neighbors hold the same right to worship as any other faith community, grounding the position in the Second Vatican Council’s teaching on religious liberty. He added, “anti-Muslim sentiment has no place in the heart of a Christian.”

On July 22, Griego decided to visit the church to document the sign. Father Chávez said he approached her and told her he considered her posts sinful before leaving the scene. A parish facilities director then asked Griego to leave. She instead called her boyfriend, David Romero, 72, who arrived and, according to police, pulled a gun and verbally threatened him. 

According to the Albuquerque Journal, a criminal complaint states Romero also struck Father Chávez with his vehicle. Romero told police he never pointed the gun at anyone and that he hadn’t intentionally hit Chávez, saying he “was just trying to get away.” The facilities director pepper-sprayed Romero before he left. Romero was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center and charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A status conference in the case was scheduled for Aug. 26. 

Days after the confrontation, Father Chávez convened Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders at the parish for a public call for civility. News accounts of the gathering also noted that Father Chávez has previously used the church marquee to post messages critical of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and in support of the “No Kings” protest movement, background that has fed into broader debate locally over the parish’s public posture on political issues.

Zeale News contacted the archdiocese for comment on the frequency of such incidents, measures put in place to address them, and whether any pastoral follow-up had occurred following the events. A response was not provided by the time of publication.