'Drive-in confessional' revealed as April Fool's joke

[The_Reginator]

‘Drive-in confessional’

An Australian priest whose announcement of a “drive-in confessional” had earned heavy media coverage has revealed that the story was an April-Fools-day hoax.

The Herald Sun had prominently featured a report that Father Bob McGuire was setting up a confessional that would allow penitents to confess by selecting sins from an electronic menu. “A flashing green light will signal when a driver’s sins have been forgiven,” the story said. It was not clear that the Herald Sun initially recognized the story as a hoax, but a later version of the report added the news that “the event was an April Fool’s stunt.”

Drat!

That would have been great, should I ever start sinning again.

 

[Peggy_in_Burien]

‘Drive-in confessional’

Drat!

That would have been great, should I ever start sinning again.

Where I grew up in Southern California, drive-in theaters were all the rage. Of course, someone thought of the obvious, and in the 1970s there were “Drive- In Churches.” They really did have services at the drive-ins on Sunday mornings.

I think a drive-through Confessional would save me the problem of the little girl in our parish who isn’t old enough to know not to open the confessional doors, as we are telling our sins! Of course, I’d have to leave my cats at home–you know what gossips they can be!

 

[odile53]

Great sense of humor that priest has; wonder if Father also would supposedly say, “Do you want to super-size that?” (in reference to the penance!) And no, I don’t think it’s blasphemous at all: God gave humanity a sense of humor, and probably wonders why we don’t use it a little more often!

 

[Big_Ro]

Great sense of humor that priest has; wonder if Father also would supposedly say, “Do you want to super-size that?” (in reference to the penance!) And no, I don’t think it’s blasphemous at all: God gave humanity a sense of humor, and probably wonders why we don’t use it a little more often!

I agree. funny stuff. good for him!!

 

[txangel]

I love it !!! Our Pastor has talked for years about opening a “Drive-Thru Confessional”, to be called " Toot and Tell or Go To Hell". And you are so right about having a sense of humor. God absolutely has one…he created us, didn’t he…

 

[Scoobyshme]

That’s funny. I think that originally came from Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In years ago.

 

[Dale_M]

The seven cardinal sins - lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath, envy and pride - will be numbered on a sign, Chinese menu-style.

From 6.30am, sinners will repent at a mobile unit dubbed the Hopemobile in the St Peter and Paul’s church driveway, confessing, for instance, to three No.7s and a No.4.

heraldsun.com.au/news/national/your-sins-forgiven-on-the-run/story-e6frf7l6-1226031706893



Good ol’ Father Bob. I guess he is a bit of a character, which is why some media outlets in Australia took the joke seriously.

 

[Jerok]

I hope this priest doesn’t take his job too lightly or else he’ll be a bad example for those who do want to go. It’s dangerous water joking about the sacraments in such a public way, especially when the media scrutinizes the Church in every possible way.

 

[odile53]

Yep, I thought so too, about the media’s hype, for a minute. They need to lighten up, too! Maybe Father should make them write out Catechism questions and answers five hundred times about Reconciliation, if they were uninformed enough to have failed to see this for anything other than what it was! Now THAT would be a “super-size” penance!

There was a local church here that had drive-in Mass on Sundays in the summertime, and yes, it was the real Mass. You got out of your car to go receive communion.

 

[admonsta]

I live in Australia, and Fr. Bob’s parish is near where I used to live - he baptised my niece. He is a very controversial person. One one hand, he does a lot of good for the homeless and is a very public Catholic presence, but he is very close to the edge - he’s involved in a radio program with John Safran on a youth station and often makes light of Catholic beliefs, but then sometimes he defends the Church as well.

fatherbob.com.au/

I think it’s not such a bad idea to have a drive-through confessional.

 

[LilyM]

I live in Australia, and Fr. Bob’s parish is near where I used to live - he baptised my niece. He is a very controversial person. One one hand, he does a lot of good for the homeless and is a very public Catholic presence, but he is very close to the edge - he’s involved in a radio program with John Safran on a youth station and often makes light of Catholic beliefs, but then sometimes he defends the Church as well.

fatherbob.com.au/

I think it’s not such a bad idea to have a drive-through confessional.

Indeed - he’s quite the character.

I think a drive-through confessional is a very bad idea. Sacraments should be received in a serious and reflective mood. ‘Drive through’ totally negates that whole idea of reflection and seriousness.

I mean can you imagine a ‘drive through’ Mass with everyone getting a sermon on tape and the Sacred Host in a doggie bag?

 

[VeronicaAnne]

This would be a good April Fool – a “valid” April Fool – if the audience of it already knew and agreed that the Sacrament of Reconciliation, itself, is valid.

In other words, it’s funny ONLY for faithful, practicing Catholics. It’s an “insider’s joke.”

Others, I fear, would get the entirely WRONG message about the Sacrament of Confession.

Otherwise, people who have issues of their own about the Church’s priestly ordination being what it is and means in the first place will give this “April Fool” drive-through confessional as just one more reason why (they think) the Catholic Church herself, is not valid.

It’s kind of a type of thing that only people in a particular group can make fun of something – about themselves – while people who are NOT in “THAT” group cannot. (i.e., use of a word that starts with the letter “n”, for example)