In an increasingly secular world, it’s not easy to attract parishioners to Mass.
Some young clergy, in their enthusiasm, bring some interesting, though controversial, ideas to the problem.
A young Franciscan friar in Urbino, Italy, has gone viral with his offer to combine the religious service with an après-Mass cocktail and dinner in front of his parish church of San Domenico. His “dinner with Jesus” approach did not go over well with the parishioners.
With a poster hung outside the church, the Parrocchia universitaria San Domenico in the Umbria city of Urbino, Andrea Ricatti tried to entice the young by offering “two for the price of one” – an “aperitif and dinner with spritz” after Mass.
The proposal sparked so much controversy that the friar, together with the local bishop, had to change the poster, which featured a picture of Jesus publicizing “Mass&apericena” every Sunday at 7:15PM with the image of altar bread and wine beside a glass of spritz.
The Parrocchia Universitaria ad Urbino, is led by the Frati minori della Provincia Picena san Giacomo della Marca, a group of young Friars who attempt to bring young people into the ever-dwindling fold. As their website indicates, the Church “offers the opportunity for all university students and professors to enrich their formative journey with faith experiences lived together with other young people who want to live authentic joy, deepen their desires and walk in God’s plan.”
The Friar’s genial idea was not met with success, as churchgoers protested against Ricatti’s idea to combine Communion with a cocktail and dinner. Ricatti apologized saying “it wasn’t my intention to offend anybody, liturgy is holy and cannot be touched, but after the fraternal love feast there is conviviality”.
Ricatti’s order describes itself as “a group of young Catholic university students whose desire is to walk and grow together spiritually and culturally, to become men and women who act with critical consciences.” Their outreach program invites the public to ”join us in the current Piazza San Francesco where we can meet and study together in a study room open to the public.”
The friar said his invitation to an aperitif and dinner after Mass was to get the young involved because “the Church is welcoming”.
