BOWIE, Maryland, US, March 21 — The United States has long loved its drive-ins and drive-throughs: for movies, fast food, pharmacies and banking. Now the coronavirus pandemic has added a new one: Catholic confessions. With his church closed due to the outbreak, Scott Holmer turned to the...
Father Scott Holmer of St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church makes the sign of the cross after holding confession in the church parking lot on March 21, 2020 in Bowie, Maryland, US. — AFP pic
Every day except Sunday, and if the weather permits, he sits on a wooden chair in his priestly robes in the parking lot outside his Maryland chapel and does a contact-free confession and blessing. Despite the drive-through’s all-American pedigree, Father Holmer came up with the idea last week after seeing South Korea organize drive-through tests for the coronavirus.
Holmer takes care to keep a safe distance from his flock and asks parishioners to stay in their vehicles. “It’s a weird thing to think about the spiritual and the physical at the same time,” admits the priest, who sometimes asks drivers to cut their engines to maintain the secrecy of the confession.
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