Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
March 27, 2002
Capuchins minister to mall visitors in Colorado Springs
Knights of Columbus fund a Catholic ministry at the Citadel Mall
By Alwen Bledsoe
The last place you'd expect to see St. Francis of Assisi is at the mall, but recently five of his successors have been bringing Francis' spirit of peace and simplicity to the shopping rat race. Visitors to the Colorado Springs Citadel Mall are becoming used to the sight of brown-robed Capuchin friars offering confession and Mass to the busy, shopping throngs. The friars have created a spiritual enclave right between Mervyns and Dillards. They call it the Catholic Center at the Citadel Mall, and Knights of Columbus all throughout Colorado are helping to raise money to keep the mall ministry thriving.
Father Gregory Beyer, O.F.M. Cap., one of the five Capuchin priests who ministers at the mall, admits it's an unconventional setting.
"One little kid walked up to one of the friars and said, `Jedis!'" the priest remarked, chuckling.
Mistaking a friar for a Star Wars Jedi Knight perhaps illustrates the scarcity of spirituality in America's consumerist society, but these five friars are working hard to change that.
Their statement of purpose reads, "In the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, the Capuchin-Franciscans at the Citadel strive to provide a spiritual resource center that offers peace, reconciliation, and guidance to those who may feel a spiritual emptiness in their lives."
And, in fact, the unconventional setting is exactly the point. When the friars approached Bishop Richard C. Hanifan of Colorado Springs with their desire to set up a ministry that would meet an un-churched crowd, he told them to go to the mall, Father Beyer said.
"He wanted us to go where the people are, and people are most at the malls," Father Beyer explained. "Christ was at the temples and that was also the social gathering place. It was the gathering place for people in politics as well as religious people."
The chapel certainly has met the masses, recording over 7,000 visitors since it opened Nov. 23, 2001.
"We have everybody coming in from the mentally insane to religious fanatics to the very, very devoted," Father Beyer said with a laugh.
Lent has inspired a surge in attendance that convinced the friars to add an evening Mass to supplement the daily noon Mass, according to Father Beyer. Though the chapel only seats 15, each Mass averages about 30-40, he added. Daily confessions currently hover around 15-20.
The project is one the Knights of Columbus statewide consider important enough to fund. Father Beyer said the state's bishops wrote to the Knights of Columbus council last year requesting their assistance in funding the ministry.
Walt Price is project chairman for fundraising for the chapel. He is also Deputy Knight for District Three Knights of Columbus. The Colorado Springs diocese has housed the friars and supplied funds for leasing the mall space, and the Knights of Columbus are raising $200,000 to reimburse the friars who used their funds to begin the ministry, he explained.
"The thing that I feel is so important about it is it's not just a Colorado Springs project," Price said. "It's a way we can bring evangelism to the people. The benefit coming from this center will not just benefit us here but (will benefit) those throughout the state."
About 60 volunteers, many of them Knights of Columbus, take care of administration duties at the center, freeing the friars to minister to their transient flock.
The 800-square-foot space houses not only a small chapel, but also two small rooms for confessions and private consultations. The friars are available to hear confessions from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and offer the sacrament of reconciliation in both Spanish and English. The center also provides referrals to local parishes and Catholic Charities for those in need.
"It's been a really unbelievable response we've been getting," said an elated Father Beyer.
And though they've gotten some frosty looks, "no one has ever in any way demeaned us," he added.
Price first saw the chapel when it was blessed by Bishop Hanifen Nov. 29 of last year. About 40 fourth-degree Knights in all their regalia attended the service as did a choir. All told the service drew an audience of about 150, according to Father Beyer.
"It stopped people in the mall," Price remembered fondly. "(People are) really uplifted when they walk through the mall and see Mass going on and see it filled to capacity."
The center often draws those who have been away from the Church for years or who have difficulty getting to Mass during regular church hours, Father Beyer said. Many of those pare the visitors who make the ministry worthwhile, he added.
"If one person comes in and says, `I haven't been to confession in 30 years, can you hear my confession?' it makes my day," Father Beyer said.
To donate, contact your local Knights of Columbus chapter or call The Catholic Center yat the Citadel at 719-573-7364. Masses are held at noon Monday through Saturday and at 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Citadel Mall is located at 750 Citadel Drive East in Colorado Springs at the intersection of Academy Boulevard and Platt Avenue.
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