DRIVE RIGHT UP AND CONFESS
Priests find innovative ways to minister to their flocks while still maintaining social distancing
In a surreal scene no one could have envisioned before the coronavirus pandemic, a stream of cars slowly navigated along orange cones in the parking lot of St. Augustine Catholic Church in Pleasanton last Saturday as priests solemnly approached them one by one.
Unlike other drive-thrus popping up all over a touch-phobic Bay Area for everything from takeout food to on-thego COVID-19 tests, the aim of this one was to administer to the soul instead of the flesh.
The priests were there to hear confessions through open windows, keeping a germ-free distance of 6 feet from cars spaced far enough apart that nosy occupants in one can’t easily eavesdrop on the vices committed by fellow sinners in the other. They extended their hands in prayer and made the sign of the cross as each car headed out on its way.
“Fortunately, even though we weren’t in a private room for confession, we have a large enough parking lot … nobody heard anything. The confidentiality thing was not a problem at all,” said the Rev. Mark Wiesner, pastor of the Pleasanton church.
The drive-thru coincides with Lent, which for Catholics is a 40-day period of reflection and atonement. Because shelter-in-place orders triggered by the coronavirus outbreak shut down Mass and other religious rituals, priests have had to find novel ways to prepare their flocks for Easter, the holiest of seasons.
With more than 5,000 registered parishioners, not only did St. Augustine’s close its confessionals to prevent germs from being sprayed through the screen separating priest and penitent, but it
also had to cancel reconciliation services, which during Lent usually draw large crowds of the faithful and up to 20 priests who line up around the church to hear confessions.
For St. Augustine’s and several other Catholic parishes in the Bay Area — including St. Columba Church in Oakland, Queen of Apostles Church in San Jose and All Saints Catholic Church in Hayward — that has led to priests standing or pulling out folding chairs in their church parking lots and offering parishioners drive-up confessions.
“Normally during the Lenten season, the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) is very important to Catholics as we prepare for Easter,” Wiesner said in an interview.
With little advertisement other than social media and website posts, the confessions-by-car was a big hit on the first day, March 21, when vehicles lined up in the church’s large parking lot and didn’t stop for more than two hours.
“In the Catholic Church all our sacraments are inperson,” Wiesner said. “All of them — whether it’s baptism or marriage or the Eucharist — are in-person, personal moments.”
That’s not to downplay televised and livestreamed Masses that St. Augustine’s and others offer, he added.
“Watching Mass online is a wonderful comfort to many people right now, but they are missing the actual sacrament of being together with the community, being able to pray together,” he said.
“While the technology is wonderful … it will never substitute for the in-person contact the way the Catholics celebrate the faith.”
And since confessions for decades have been offered both face-to-face and behind closed doors, parishioners didn’t seem to mind the lack of anonymity, he said.
If there’s more than one person in the car, the others are asked to exit and sit on a nearby bench to make sure the penitent’s confession is a private moment. Penance to atone for sins has to be said in the car rather than in church pews.
Miles away in Antioch, Alyssa Boushey attended a drive-up confession midweek at Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church where two priests fully adorned in white vestments and purple stoles sat quietly outside the church on folding chairs awaiting the next penitent.
Boushey said she would not feel complete if she didn’t experience Lenten reconciliation, even if it has to be in her car.
“It’s a beautiful opportunity for us to reconnect with God, especially at this time that is scary and unsure about when we will be able to receive that sacrament again,” the 22-yearold music and after-school teacher said.
Staying home because of the pandemic has given her a lot of time to contemplate and reflect on life, Boushey said.
“We have the time to think about it — it’s a different sort of Lenten journey that none of us has experienced before,” she said. “We have the time for selfreflection, to be able to go and feel some sense of relief where there isn’t much sense of relief.
“I felt at peace that if anything did happen, my soul is at a good place.”
Elsewhere, some priests have taken a different path. Although those at St. Ignatius of Antioch have decided against drive-up reconciliation, the church is now letting parishioners call in their confessions and receive absolution.
“We agree that given the instability of our weather, that it is inadvisable,” said its pastor, the Rev. Robert Rien, noting the majority of parishioners are elderly and must shelter in place.
“I have shared with my parishioners that I am very happy to celebrate reconciliation with them, and how that takes place is worked out through a phone call.”
In Pleasanton, though, Wiesner said that weather permitting, his church will continue as long as sheltering orders are in place and may even expand its driveup confessions as needs grow.
“I think they found some consolation and a little bit of normality in it during this time,” he said.
Though this weekend’s Palm Sunday services will not happen as before, blessed palms will be available for pickup, Wiesner added.
“The shelter-in-place happened at an interesting time in the church — before Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday — our biggest Masses of the year,” he said. “It’s going to be a whole new experience. We are kind of inventing it, making it up as we go along while trying to be faithful to our tradition and how we celebrate our faith.”