Nearly a decade ago, leaders of the St. Mary’s Catholic Center next to the giant Texas A&M University campus began having an unusual problem: They had too many students coming to confession.
The priests were offering what was, in this day and age, a rather robust schedule for the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, with 60 minutes or more on Wednesday nights and Saturdays before Mass.
Students were queuing up and waiting. So a young priest suggested offering daily confession, with two priests available for an hour-plus, or one priest for two or three hours. But that wasn’t enough, either. Now this parish dedicated to campus ministry — with 50 full-time and part-time staffers — offers confession at least 10 times every week, plus by appointment.
“We still have some lines, and sometimes — most days, even — our priests don’t have time to hear all the confessions,” said Marcel LeJeune, the parish’s assistant campus ministry director. “The priests don’t have time to chat. … It seems that whenever we offer more opportunities for confession, we have more people show up.”
