| Roman Catholic Chapel at the Millcreek Mall |
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Diocese opens chapel at By Jason Koshinskie After Millcreek Mall shoppers browse the new springtime fashions at Bon Ton and sip on a cup of Starbucks coffee, they can stop by the mall’s newest store and go to confession. The Erie Diocese became the Erie mall’s newest tenant, opening a chapel on Feb. 6—Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent—primarily for hearing confessions. “People often have different schedules than what the church has,” said Bishop Donald Trautman. “We traditionally have had confessions Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening at parishes. That doesn’t seem to be working. There are many reasons for that: secularism in our culture, denial of sin. But it may also be people’s schedules that we’re not there when they are there.” Confession at the mall has been an idea of Bishop Trautman’s for some time. But hearing them there during the penitential season of Lent—a time of prayer, good works and returning to the Lord, gave him the impetus to commit to the idea, he said.
“My idea is to go to where the people are and see if we can, by presenting this opportunity, bring them back to the sacrament and meet them where they are,” he said. The diocese has transformed the empty storefront that formerly housed American Dental into a chapel complete with a welcoming area, confessionals, a tabernacle and a reading room. The chapel, located just outside the concourse entrance to Bon Ton, one of the mall’s anchor stores, occupies 2,000 of the more than 2.2 million square feet of retail space at Millcreek Mall complex. Tim Jares, Millcreek Mall property manager, said chapels have opened at other malls and properties owned by the Cafaro Company, which operates the mall, but not in Millcreek Mall until now. “In our other shopping centers we’ve done it before,” Jares said. “It’s all timing when it comes to retail. If a space is available for a period of time, different businesses will come in. Malls used to have everything. They got away from different service business, and it’s now coming back to that.” On Ash Wednesday, Bishop Trautman and Father Ed Lohse, diocesan chancellor, introduced the concept by hearing confessions and distributing ashes. Confessions, both traditional and face to face, will be heard on Wednesdays from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“However, if there is such a volume, we will hear them every day,” Bishop Trautman said. “If the need is there, we’ll do it other days of the week, but that remains to be seen. Right now we have it worked out for Wednesdays and Saturdays.” Both retired and active priests are being lined up for the time slots. The mall chapel will remain open throughout the season of Lent during regular mall hours for visitors to stop in and pray. It will be closed Sundays. After Lent, a schedule will be announced. This evangelization attempt is not, in any way, to rival parish life, the bishop said, but rather an opportunity to bring people back to the sacrament of reconciliation and the church. “We want to get people back to their parish communities,” he said. “It’s an experiment on our part, and we’ll see how it goes.” According to a 2007 report from the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), most Catholic adults admit to infrequent or no participation in the sacrament of reconciliation. Citing data from a 2005 poll of adult Catholics in the U.S., the report stated that 42 percent of those surveyed responded that they never go to confession. Thirty-two percent said they went less than once a year, and 26 percent said they went once a year or more. Whatever their reasons might be, the numbers show that people are avoiding confession. By having a chapel in such a public setting, Bishop Trautman said he hopes bring people back to the sacrament. “We should not come with fear and trembling but we should come with joy in our hearts knowing that the Lord wants to welcome us and embrace us,” he said. He recalled Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son returning home to his father. When the father sees his son coming down the road, he runs out to embrace him. He then calls for a robe to be put on him, sandals for his feet and a ring to be put on his finger. “I love that story,” the bishop said. “That prodigal son represents all of us. And the father doesn’t make the prodigal crawl back. The father rushes out to meet him. For me, that’s the powerful part.”
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