Following the success of last spring’s “Festival of Forgiveness,” the Diocese of St. Cloud will hold it again next year during Lent.
The diocesan Presbyteral Council voted Dec. 6 to schedule the event for March 31, 2017, the Friday of the fourth week of Lent.
The diocese held the inaugural event last March in conjunction with the Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis. The sacrament of reconciliation was made available from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at designated churches throughout the 16-county diocese.
An estimated 2,800 to 3,000 confessions were heard around the diocese that day at nine locations.
Many of the people who received the sacrament had been away from it for years — some for decades, priests reported after the festival, and this was an important segment of the Catholic population the event was trying to reach.
Members of the council — which is comprised of priest representatives from around the diocese and serves in a consultative role to the bishop — said there was support in their deaneries for organizing the event again in 2017.
Individual deaneries will decide if the same churches, or different ones, will host the festival next year. The diocese has seven deaneries: St. Cloud, Alexandria/Morris, Cold Spring, Fergus Falls/Wadena, Foley/Princeton, Little Falls, and Melrose/Sauk Centre.
A few priests said they would like to see more advertising for the event in secular media in order to reach people who don’t regularly attend church.
Bishop Donald Kettler also said it would be up to individual deaneries to decide if they wanted to add additional features to their festival observance, such as music or eucharistic adoration.
Among other council business, members discussed:
- The diocese’s cohabitation policy. The policy — which requires engaged couples to live separately before marriage — dates back to 1984 under Bishop George Speltz. Council members said the policy has been difficult to enforce, but couples still need to be challenged to live according to Gospel values.
Following discussion about the challenges posed by the policy, Bishop Kettler said he would like to continue to examine how it might be improved. He said he also is supportive of an idea raised by a few priests to develop talking points for priests to assist them when they speak to engaged couples. - New rite of marriage. A revised version of the church’s English translation of the Order of Celebrating Matrimony took effect Sept. 8 and becomes mandatory Dec. 30. The revision provides a deeper explanation of the church’s theology of marriage. Among other changes, it revises the entrance rites, explains optional cultural adaptations, and adds two new rituals for blessing engaged and married couples.
Council members said priests continue to have questions about some aspects of the revised rite. Timothy Johnston, director of the diocesan Office of Worship, answered questions at the council meeting, following up on a presentation on the rite that he gave priests during their October retreat in Alexandria. Council members requested a possible study day for clergy on the topic. Johnston said he would create videos and bulletin inserts that could be used by pastors and parishes.