Maryland Priest Starts Drive-Through Confession Service as CCP Virus Shuts Church

Lorenz Duchamps
By Lorenz Duchamps
March 24, 2020Trending
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The CCP virus has prevented many from engaging in social activities. That includes attending church and confessing their sins.

The Catholic Church of St. Edward the Confessor in Maryland also had to shut its doors due to the outbreak, but that didn’t stop a Maryland priest from offering confession services.

Father Scott Holmer said he found a way to get around this obstacle and started administering confessions by car to worshippers at the parking lot of his church on Friday, March 20.

Holmer said he got the idea of offering drive-through confessions after learning about South Korea’s drive-through testing for the illness.

“They were testing people for the coronavirus in South Korea through drive-throughs,” Holmer told Reuters. “Well, why not treat people with confession through drive-throughs? So, then I grabbed some cones, the sign, and the chair, put it in the parking lot, and then I just sat there.”

Holmer said at first he didn’t expect people to come, which was true, not many did and just a few cars stopped to ask for his services. However, things turned around after a video about him gained some media attention and went viral.

“Wednesday night I think the news was starting to break by this point. We had quite a few, maybe eight. And then last night (March 19) I just lost count,” Holmer said.

NTD Photo
Father Scott Holmer administering confession car by car to worshippers at the parking lot of the Catholic Church of St. Edward the Confessor in Maryland on March 20, 2020. (Still image from video via Reuters)

As to why people are venturing outside to confess when many remain in self-isolation at home, Holmer explains that they’re looking for something beyond the physical.

“I think the vaccine for fear is faith, and so knowing even though that all the world goes completely chaotic, you can always hold on to your relationship with God,” Father Holmer said.

And in times like these, for some, having something to hold onto could make all the difference, the Father said.

Holmers’ words hold true for this penitent, who said the meaning of confession is quite profound.

“It’s about renewal. Nobody’s perfect and the one thing about confession is that it allows us to be able to become renewed,” penitent Joel Dearring said.

Drive-throughs, drive-ins, and similar initiatives are popping up across the United States in an attempt to fill the void left by shuttered businesses, churches and services as U.S. officials ordered strict restrictions to help contain the spread of the CCP virus.

NTD News refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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