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| Christ the Redeemer (Photo by Cyro A. Silva) |
Although Rio's famous mountain-top statue reminds Catholics that Jesus is always watching, there is nevertheless a great deal of sin hidden between the sun and sand.
This may be especially true during the World Youth Day event that "recently attracted more than 1 million faithful to Rio de Janeiro…" Faithful or not, temptations run rampant within
such a setting; therefore, the Church has come up with a creative way for forgiveness to occur. Paulo Prada of Reuters
reported that "100 makeshift outdoor confessionals" (designed to resemble mini Christ the Redeemer statues)
were set up "at two focal points of the gathering."
This "tent camp" type assembly was staffed by polyglot priests (doing two-hour shifts) so that penitents could confess in either Portugese, French, Polish or German.
One of these priests,
Ademir Alves from Goias, explained the importance of this spiritual practice: Each confession helps you
find your way back to God.
The uniqueness and accessibility of these confessionals appealed to many of the youth that were present. Elise Johnson, an attendee from Seattle, declared: This is way cooler than confession in a church. Noelia Meza, a young woman from Argentina who had been away from the Church for quite some time, also felt that she had "a lot to tell."
Resources
http://news.yahoo.com/pope-town-ribald-rio-land-outdoor-confessionals-075103296.html
Copyright July 29, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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