Roman Catholic priests in Salford Diocese have taken to the streets in a double-decker bus to offer confession to those who don't go to church.
The Mercy Bus – emblazoned with the Year of Mercy Logo – has been in Manchester city centre, or one of the surrounding towns, each Saturday of Lent to offer blessings, conversation and confession to lapsed Catholics and the unchurched.
Young-adult volunteers engage people on the streets through live music and by offering passers-by 'miraculous medals' blessed by Pope Francis. They also invite people onto the bus, whose destination reads "#nextstopmercy", and has itself been blessed by the Pope.
The project is inspired by Pope Francis, Father Frankie Mulgrew, a Salford Priest involved in organising the bus, told Christian Today.
"When he was cardinal of Buenos Aires, the Pope used to do these open air masses in the slums – talking of God's mercy to the poor living there. He was reaching people where they were at."
In its first three outings, Fr Frankie said the bus has attracted over 600 people, many of whom have asked for blessings alongside confessions.
There have been "significant confessions from some people who haven't been for years or who have been estranged for years," he said.
Mulgrew's faith in confession and his desire to make it available to as many people as possible comes from a personal experience. He recalled going to confession during "a time of low ebb" and "having a profound encounter with God's mercy."
"Just as the bus is for everyone, mercy is for everyone. Whatever someone's burden might be – financial, bereavement, relationship – come on board the bus and be free from that burden," he said.
So far, both lapsed Catholics and those who have never been involved in church have engaged with the project.
"One guy came on [to the bus], who had no faith background, but was really taken aback by the blessing he received. When he came on the bus, he wasn't sure that there was a God, and when he left he said he thought there might be one," Mulgrew said.
The initiative has been such a success that the original Lenten timetable has been extended to the entire Year of Mercy.
