Coronavirus Inspires Bowie Priest To Offer Drive-Thru Confessions

BOWIE, MD — The Rev. Scott Holmer of St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Bowie was facing a dilemma. All public Masses in the Archdiocese of Washington had been suspended effective Saturday in response to the spread of the new coronavirus.

Holmer was at his church Saturday knowing that the evening's Mass had been canceled — waiting, as usual, for the 4 p.m. weekly confessions to begin. They, too, had been suspended, but some parishioners who came every week to have their confessions heard likely didn't know that.

"It was 10 minutes before Saturday night confessions, and I'm like, 'Well, I can't really open up the church, because then you risk infection and everyone's coming to the same confessional,'" Holmer said. "And I'm wondering, 'How are we going to do this?'"

Then, as if by divine intervention, the priest remembered hearing about how coronavirus tests were being conducted in South Korea at drive-thru testing facilities.

"Why not just do drive-thru confessions?" Holmer said. "I just grabbed some cones and the usual confession sign we have to direct people to the confessional in the church, pulled out a chair and just kind of sat down."

With the help of a seminarian directing traffic, Holmer began that night giving confessions to parishioners in the parking lot of the church.

"Some people wanted to go to confession," he said. "Some just wanted to talk, and that's how it happened. It was really just 10 minutes before, and I just said, 'I can't use the church, so what else can I do?'"

That first night, Holmer listened to confessions in the parking lot for about an hour.

"There were some people coming for the 5:30 p.m. Mass that didn't realize that the Mass had been canceled," he said. "It gave me an opportunity to talk with them and just to let them know what's going on."

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On Monday morning, Holmer was back out in his chair in the parking lot, offering confessions to anyone who showed up for the regularly scheduled 8:45 a.m. Mass. He stayed out there for about 30 minutes and heard a couple of confessions.

"They really like it, you know? A lot of people like the idea of it, knowing that they can go," Holmer said. "The church no longer has Mass, but there's still an opportunity to talk with a priest. I think that's very comforting for people, especially when things are going so crazy."

Holmer plans to offer drive-thru confessions when confessions and Masses are normally scheduled. That means he'll offer confessions at 8:45 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with an additional time of 7 p.m. on Wednesdays; at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; and at 4 p.m. Saturday. The drive-thru confessional will be closed in the event of rain.

Aside from setting out the traffic cones and his chair, the drive-thru confessional presents a few logistical challenges for the priest. To ensure that Holmer doesn't infect a parishioner or put himself at risk of being infected, he maintains a 6-foot distance between himself and the person seeking the confession.

Also, confession is supposed to be something given in privacy. If a car drives up with a family in it, family members must each wait their turn a distance away while their loved one has their confession heard in private.

"I also give the option for anonymous confession," Holmer said. "They tell the seminarian, 'I want to be anonymous.' He tells me to pull my blindfold on, and I just blindfold myself. I haven't had anybody want to be anonymous yet, but we're ready if they do."

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