As students walked to their classes Friday afternoon, some stopped to take note of the three priests near Foellinger Auditorium. As part of the Newman Center’s “24 Hours of Grace” campaign, priests from St. John’s Catholic Chapel offered the sacrament of reconciliation on the Quad for all interested students during their “Confessions on the Quad” event from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m Friday.
Reconciliation is a Catholic sacrament in which a person confesses his or her sins to a priest, who then absolves the person of his or her sins.
“We just wish them to know that there is a God,” said Monsignor Gregory Ketcham. “God loves them intensely.”
Ketcham was one of the three priests administering reconciliation Friday. Ketcham said the reasoning behind having this public display of a personal sacrament was mostly to spread awareness. “God wants them to be the best they can be and part of that is coming to him in the sacrament of reconciliation,” Ketcham said.
Ketcham said the event was not only for Catholics on campus- any student who was interested in confessing or who wanted to try it out was welcome to do so.
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“It’s our belief that many students arrive here on campus soiled in many ways, with very little self-esteem and not a very good understanding of God,” he said.
Ketcham said making the sacrament easily attainable for students could mean an increased interest in the mission of what the Newman Center has to offer.
At the event, students had the option of talking face-to-face with the priest or confessing through a screen. While both of these options are available in a church, some students, including Lizzie Chaps, sophomore in Education, said they were confused about the screen option at the quad event, as everyone was still easily visible.
“I think it’s kind of intimidating. It looks like a trial,” Chaps added.
Ka-Rhim Kim, sophomore in LAS, said she agreed that the Quad was a questionable location for this event to take place.
Jackie Alexander, sophomore in Education, said she thought that the Quad was the perfect place to attract attention and spread awareness. “It’s very interesting and new, so I think people will be attracted to it and want to see what’s going on,” Alexander said.
