Hosanna in the HiAce! Safe ‘drive-in’ church service has Mass appeal...
WE ALREADY have drive-in cinemas and drive-through restaurants – and now there is drive-in Mass!
A parish in Kerry has come up with a creative way to observe social restrictions while also allowing people to attend Mass in the church car park.
Fr Kevin McNamara, the parish priest of Moyvane in north Kerry, opened up his church doors this month to say Mass to parishioners sitting in their parked vehicles.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mail, Fr McNamara said they broadcast the Mass through the bell speakers of the church and that people can still adhere to the social distancing rules by staying in their cars.
Weeks into lockdown, the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, said that parishes will need to be ‘creative’ with how worship services are to operate in the current climate. ‘I think we’re going to have to be creative about this and even consider the possibility of some gatherings outside the church, but in the vicinity of the church,’ said the archbishop.
Although this was not a clear directive for priests, it looks like this is exactly what the parish of Moyvane are doing.
‘I think the days are gone when you’re waiting for directives,’ said Fr McNamara. ‘You have to go with the flow.
‘These are just uncharted waters we’ve never been in before. There’s no easy way, as is proving with governments, with the likes of England saying one thing, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland saying another as to how to go through it. Spiritually, I’m just trying various things and, in fairness, the people are responding.’
Fr McNamara said it was an emotional moment opening up the doors of the church for the first time in almost two months.
‘It was quite emotional for me the other evening to just open the doors,’ he said. ‘There was nobody dashing in or anything like that but the fact that the doors were open... For so long they had been closed.
‘Since March 12 I’ve been saying Masses to an empty church and just looking at empty seats and bare walls, so it was a great experience when I opened the side doors.’
So far, there’s been a good reaction to the new car park Mass initiative – with up to 40 cars in attendance every night.
Fr McNamara said: ‘We’re lucky enough to have quite a large car park, so nobody has to get out of their cars. I thought it might be a nice idea for the elderly, and I’ve seen families with children driving around.’ He added that he, like other parishes, was also conducting services over videolink and YouTube.
The reopening of places of worship is currently scheduled for July 20.
‘A nice idea for the elderly’