CATANZARO, Italy, SEPT. 22, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Shoppers at the Le Fontane shopping center in Catanzaro are now finding it easier than ever to attend Mass on Sunday: a new church in the area gives both consumers and employees an effortless way to find a Sunday Mass.
Archbishop Antonio Ciliberti of Catanzaro-Squillace presided this month over the solemn dedication of the new parish complex, named after St. Maximillian Maria Kolbe.
“People for whom it has become a habit — and, unfortunately, they are increasingly numerous in the context of our consumerist pseudo-civilization — to spend Sunday afternoon in these shopping centers, now find the opportune possibility of being able to enjoy the wealth of spiritual values,” Archbishop Ciliberti noted on Vatican Radio.
Every day some 10,000 people visit this 20-hectare (49-acre) shopping center.
However, the prelate pointed out that St. Maximillian Kolbe is not just for these consumers, but above all stands to benefit the near 1,800 residents of the region, who did not previously have a parish.
“Our task is to go beyond the boundaries of ordinary pastoral care,” the 75-year-old archbishop said, adding that his intent is a ministry program that is “radically innovative.”
Two Masses will be offered at the church on Sundays and one on weekdays.
