Cassock flaring in the wind behind him, Fr. Emmanuel Galvez, IVE, briskly pulled up on an electric scooter and parked on Monroe Street in front of St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix.
Fr. Galvez was there to join several other priests of the Diocese of Phoenix to offer the sacrament of penance to NCAA basketball fans who flooded downtown during the Women’s Final Four Basketball Tournament last weekend (April 3-5).
A volunteer team of Catholic evangelizers set up a table on the street for 12 hours on Holy Saturday, offering free rosaries, St. Benedict crucifixes, Miraculous Medals, holy cards and other sacramentals to passersby. Volunteers received their training from St. Paul Street Evangelization.
A mini-basketball hoop attracted families with young children who took turns taking shots while their parents spoke with volunteers. An 8-foot Sacred Heart of Jesus banner as well as signs with messages such as “Can We Pray for You?” and “Catholic Priest Available for Confession” snagged plenty of attention, too.
At one point, while Fr. Joseph Nguyen, parochial vicar of St. Agnes Parish in Phoenix, was hearing confessions, there were 11 penitents in line for the sacrament. He said he heard about 20 confessions throughout the afternoon.
“It’s a great blessing to offer God’s mercy to people, especially those who have been gone for a while,” Fr. Nguyen said. “I had a lot of very powerful experiences of people feeling God’s forgiveness and love through the sacrament today and I’m praising God for that.”
Led by the Diocese of Phoenix’s Office of Evangelization, Discipleship and Spirituality, volunteers gave out hundreds of sacramentals throughout the daylong event.
For Jack Barone and his wife Jo, serving as evangelizers for the NCAA Women’s Final Four was a slam dunk. The pair volunteered previously at the men’s tournament and during a Super Bowl fan event at the Phoenix Convention Center where local volunteers also hosted evangelization tables.
Jack admitted he’s an introvert but still feels called to serve as a Catholic street evangelist, offering the hope of Christ to people he’s never met before.
“It can still be awkward sometimes, but you get past it,” Jack said. “The message motivates me, I guess, because I know it’s an important message to get to the people, and I may not be doing it in the most eloquent manner, but I’m getting the message across, I think.”
Julianna Bonilla, a young woman from Connecticut, was in town for the tournament and stopped by the evangelization table. She said she was happy to see that St. Mary’s Basilica was open to the public and that confession was available on the street.
“I came a long way and I’m obviously missing home for Easter. My normal religious kind of standards are over there. But to come to Arizona and have it here and easily accessible, it was a no-brainer for me to stop by. My faith means a lot to me.”
Tim, a man from Denver, said he was in Phoenix to be the sponsor for his nephew Lawrence who was being received into the Church at the Easter Vigil. Lawrence had been a longtime atheist and he and Tim had a falling out at one point.
Tim’s mother never gave up on her grandson Lawrence — she has many grandchildren she prays for — and those prayers were heard. When Lawrence decided he wanted to receive the sacraments, it was his uncle Tim he contacted about being a sponsor.
“We had a very ugly back-and-forth years and years ago. And sorry, it’s very emotional for me,” Tim said as he fought back tears.
“I don’t know why he chose me but I’m very honored that he did.”
Fr. Emmanuel Ogla, the parochial vicar at St. Benedict Parish in Phoenix, was the first to arrive and hear confessions.
“This is a social evangelical drive, taking Jesus to people on the streets through the sacrament of holy confession. I had a lot of people who came and were so happy they had this opportunity. They couldn’t have any Holy Week event, and they were so delighted to see a Catholic priest on the street just by the corner, ready to listen to their confessions.”
The wooden confessional screen set up on Monroe was an eye-catcher for basketball fans who travelled from Connecticut, Texas, California, South Carolina, New York and other states as well as Arizona-based hoops afficionados who came to cheer on their team.
Alex England, a student at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, lives in downtown Phoenix and said he liked seeing the confessional on the street. He stood in line with several others, even though it was a sultry 90 degrees.
“People are walking by and are able to see what it really is like to be a Catholic. And I think that’s really cool,” said England. “It’s an intimate, you know, sort of connection between you and the priest and you’re having a conversation about some pretty real and pretty tough stuff. But you’ll leave feeling so much better.
“And you can look at the line. There are plenty of people who agree with me.”
For more information or to inquire about volunteering for upcoming evangelization events, contact Joyce Coronel at 602-354-2025 or [email protected].
