SALT LAKE CITY — With the threat of coronavirus closing churches, some Catholic priests in Utah will be offering to hear drive-up confessions this weekend.
Father Stephen Tilley at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Draper posted a YouTube video Friday inviting parishioners to “Meet me at the Jeep” in the circle driveway at Skaggs Catholic Center on Sunday, March 22, from 6 p.m. to sunset.
“I am going to be sitting in my Jeep Wrangler with my Confessional Stole, a cup of coffee, I’m going to be listening to some Bruce Springsteen and some Aerosmith if no one shows up. But I am here,” Father Tilley said in the video. “You guys can pull up and the Jeep will be the confessional. Don’t come in the Jeep with me, pull up right next to me, we’ll give you the sacrament, then we’re going to be on our way.”
Father John Evans of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Cottonwood Heights wrote a message to members of his congregation that weather permitting, they could schedule a time and line up their vehicles in the church parking lot, according to the church’s website.
“Stay in your car. I will come to you, and you can roll down your window and I’ll hear your confessions,” Father Evans wrote. “If more than one person is in the car, I will step with each individual away from the car until all have had their confessions heard.”
When public Masses were suspended last week in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Father Scott Holmer, a pastor from a church in Maryland, decided to get “creative.” He placed a chair in the parking lot and listened to confessions as people drove by, according to Catholicphilly.com.
“This is where we priests have to be creative about how to bring Christ to people when we can’t do that in our church buildings,” Father Holmer said in the article. “We need to bring Christ to people now, to bring him to others in a safe way that won’t increase infection.”