TORONTO -- The COVID-19 pandemic has provided divine inspiration to a Catholic church in Ontario offering drive-thru confession.
Priests at St. Michael the Archangel church in Belleville have found a way to offer the sacrament by sitting at an open rectory window two metres from parishioners who drive up to confess their sins from the driverās seat.
The church says this is in keeping with the physical distancing protocols put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
āWe have been very inventiveā¦ people just drive up and the window opens, the priest is behind the window and receives the penitent,ā Rev. Richard Whalen told CTVās Your Morning.
āThe church has always been inventive, weāve been on battlefields and in prisons and in hospitals everywhere to offer the sacraments.ā
Under the state of emergency declared by the government of Ontario in March, places of worship across the province have been forced to shut their doors.
Confessions are offered two hours daily, 11.30a.m. to 12.30p.m. and 5p.m. to 6p.m. But thatās not the only vehicular-based worship available at St. Michaelās.
Due to pandemic restrictions, the church has also reduced its 24-hour adoration, a Catholic devotion to Jesus in the eucharist, to the hours of 8a.m. to 9p.m.
āThe blessed sacrament will be exposed in the north entrance behind the glass,ā
āAdorers should park their cars in front of the north entrance and adore from their cars.ā
Rev. Whalen said some people sit for up to an hour, spending their time in prayer.
āItās a great source of strength and help for people in this crisis,ā he said.
St Michaelās, like many churches since lockdown, is also live streaming mass on Facebook, which is later posted on YouTube.
āWhen I look at the camera, itās an amazing gift of grace that I carry my people in my heart, I have a real sense of their presence,ā Rev. Whalen said.
āI know that Iām talking directly to them. I know theyāre suffering not being able to go to church. Iām so blessed that I have an opportunity to speak Godās word to them.ā