Confessional on four wheels ” “

“Test everything, hold fast to what is good”. The phrase, a quotation from the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, is written on the front of a van that a few days ago started travelling across the roads of Western Poland, bringing comfort and reconciliation. The original idea of the first mobile confessional is an initiative of the New Evangelization School in the diocese of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg to “promote mankind’s encounter with God”. Furthering the encounter with Jesus. Up to now, the twenty-year old minivan had been used to bring young evangelizers to parishes. Having been adapted to ensure the “privacy” of confession, and with a priest on board, it is now ready to welcome all those “who usually do not enter a church, and who knows if they ever did”, Magda Plucner, one of the promoters of the initiative, told SIR Europe. “We are carrying out our evangelizing mission in shopping malls, in the streets, outside concerts, and people often ask if there is a priest with us because they would like to approach confession”, Plucner said. “At that point, even though often a priest is with us, we find it hard to create an appropriate environment for a long conversation since in most cases the meetings are decided by people who had been distant from the Church for many years”, she added. “When these people want to talk about faith, the most important thing to do is facilitate their first encounter with Jesus, because He will rekindle the need for Him in people’s hearts”. Curiosity and talks… Confessor Rafal Jarosiewicz, who is also the coordinator of the diocesan school for the new evangelization, before starting his mission pointed out: “Although we expect that at the beginning only few people will take advantage of the possibility of confession, certainly many more will be curious, will draw close, will start talking, and the initiative will serve as a place for encounter”. “Our initiative is not addressed to those who regularly attend churches and have no difficulty to draw near the sacrament of reconciliation”, he pointed out. On the streets. “I think it’s better to make mistakes doing something than doing nothing”, said diocesan bishop Msgr. Edward Dajczak, who blessed the initiative. “When the Holy Father tells us we have to go in the streets, towards those who never enter a church on their own, the mobile confessional can be a good proposal”, he said, recalling his own evangelization experiences during meetings of youths, such as the WYD, “prompting conversations and confessions by youths even by sitting together on the ground”, but the same youths “find it hard to draw close to a confessional”. Monsignor Dajczak believes “it is worthwhile to provide young people with the opportunity for an encounter that would not have taken place otherwise”. “Text messages from heaven”. The mobile confessional started service on Sunday January 12 near a large open market that once a week brings together many people in Koszalin, but many more dioceses already asked if they could use the van. The initiative is presented on a website that contains information on the places and hours of the service. The small vehicle belongs to the diocesan foundation “Text-messages from heaven”, which as of 2007 sends daily messages with Biblical quotations, phrases from the writings of the Church Fathers and practical information on ongoing local events and initiatives to all subscribers.