So recently a family member had her child baptised (in a NO Catholic Church) and during the baptism literally everyone was taking photos, even leaving their seats and getting within 20feet of the Priest.
Has anyone had experience with or seen something like this before?
Perhaps my disdain for it is not correct… I had a hard time telling them this was wrong and we should wait to go outside for a picture. But they looked at me as if I was a monkey.
Is there a certain way i should go about it? I also attend a NO Church, and this does not seem like something normal.
This is one of those issues where prudence has to be exercised and the circumstances considered:
When the baptism takes place during the Mass, only the immediate family and official photographer should take any photos in the church, but that should happen after the Mass (the priest ought to make time for this) not during it (also, it’s someone else’s child, what the hell’s wrong with people these days(?)). Clapping is also discouraged. If you’re not heavily involved with the church/parish in question, I’d recommend approaching the matter with the same fervour and gusto you take to the sign of peace handshake (shove your hands in your pockets and glare in stony-faced charity at your well-meaning-but-utterly-ignorant fellow Catholic (a wry smile that says “You know what you can do with your handshake, champ” is also worth considering)).
When it happens privately (still in the church but outside of the Mass), go for your life, so long as you’re a by-stander (not a (god)parent or otherwise essential to the matter and form being correct. Again, though, clapping is a little inappropriate since you’re still in the Presence of the Lord.
There were some pictures at my baptism at an Orthodox church. The best way to crack down on it is to talk to your priest about it, and maybe he will enforce some sort of restricted pictures rule. People constantly whipping their phones out for any significant event is a much more broader issue though and this is only one instance of it.
I utterly despise clapping in church. It feels so wrong and inappropriate. There’s almost always applause for guest speakers that go up before, during, or after the homily or mass.
Clapping is not appropriate because every Mass is Calvary. Its asinine to clap for some speaker when you’ve just witnessed Our Lord being Crucified
As for baptism and taking pictures, in EO its generally forbidden to take pictures in principle in a church. But a lot of chinkese tourists in Russia do so, and I had to remind my very devout godmother not to do it just cause the filthy foreigners do so.
Its just one of those things that we have to deal with and try to change one person at a time I guess