Roadside redemption began on water

With the “Year of Mercy” as declared by Pope Francis fast approaching, Catholics can conveniently find the road to redemption literally on the road with the “Spiritual Care Unit,” an ambulance converted into a mobile confessional.

According to the Rev. Michael Champagne, Fete-Dieu du Teche, LLC, owns the ambulance.

“We had the idea about expanding, to do some evangelization kind of thing outside the box.” Champagne said. “We’ve got an account through the Community Foundation of Acadiana so people can donate to that to help offset it.”

Fete-Dieu du Teche is composed of the fine folks who put on the Eucharistic Boat Procession Down Bayou Teche on Aug. 15, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the first Acadians to come to this region of south Louisiana.

“That is an endeavor of that group,” Champagne said. “And that group is a Catholic evangelization group.”

Do note that the boat procession will become an annual event, Champagne said.

“So we’re going to have that," Champagne said. “We just think it’s a good evangelizing thing not just for the anniversary, so we’re going to keep it going.”

But about the ambulance converted into the Spiritual Care Unit: “I’ve been thinking of that for years,” Champagne said. “But we haven’t been able to get a hold of one.”

The SCU will have its own Facebook page so when it hits the road, Champagne said, interested Catholics will be able to determine where it will park to offer confession.

“We’re going to put all of that on our Facebook page so they can see where it’s at and send invites and stuff,” Champagne said. “We’re going to keep that updated, where we’re going to be at, for people to follow.”

Champagne said he’ll look into permit issues and such for having the SCU at University of Louisiana at Lafayette tailgating events, Downtown Alive! and other public events.

“We got to find out where we can put it, what kind of permits we’ll need,” Champagne said, adding that the SCU will be available to go to Catholic schools and church functions and Catholic businesses. “But for the mall and other spots we’ll have to see what’s legal and what’s not.”

In the meantime, the SCU will find its way to Chicot State Park for “Into the Wild Retreat for Men” this weekend.

“We’ll have about four or five priests and we’ll hear confessions,” Champagne said.

Bishop Michael Jarrell is excited about the church’s new vehicle and said it will bring more Catholics to confession. He said with such busy schedules, many churchgoers find it difficult to make it to the traditional confessional.

The bishop blessed the mobile confessional Thursday, but it’s not quite ready yet; there's more work to do on it before it makes its official debut in December.