Ireland: New 'quickie' Mass draws large crowds

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A new fifteen-minute mass in a Galway parish is drawing people in droves and reversing the fall off in mass attendance. The guaranteed 15-minute mass without a sermon and with the help of a Eucharistic minister is allowing parishioners to attend mass before going to work.

Father Michael Kenny switched his morning mass from 9.a.m to 7.30 a.m. and attendance has soared. "The general view among parishioners is that the 9 a.m. Mass was totally unsuitable for people going to work," he told the Irish Independent.

"Now, more and more people are coming along to the Mass at 7.30 a.m. as they know they can be on their way to work or school 15 or 20 minutes later and it is far more suitable," said Fr Kenny. the rest