Mexican churches jam cell phone signals

MONTERREY, Mexico — Church leaders in four Roman Catholic churches in Monterrey, Mexico, are placing cell phone jammers in their sanctuaries to keep phones from receiving a signal while in the buildings. The size of paperback books, the Israeli-made jammers are nestled unobtrusively among paintings and statues.

“There are still some people who don’t understand that being at mass is sharing a moment with God,” said Juan Jose Martinez, a spokesman for the archdiocese. “Sadly, we had no other choice but to use these little gadgets.”

The ringing of cell phones is increasingly being thwarted —from Mexican sanctuaries and India’s parliament to Tokyo theaters and commuter trains — by devices originally developed to help security forces avert eavesdropping and stop phone-triggered bombs, according to the Associated Press.

At the present time, use of these devices is illegal in the United States and most Western nations, but Mexico and many other countries have no law against them.