Monterrey archdiocese to launch mobile chapel for neighborhoods hit by drug violence

The Archdiocese of Monterrey, in northern Mexico, will launch a traveling chapel of the Blessed Sacrament that will visit outlying neighborhoods and areas affected by drug-related violence. The chapel will begin operating in late September as part of celebrations marking 250 years since the archdiocese was founded, said Father Ignacio Pulido Mendiola, the archdiocese's communications director.

The mobile chapel is meant to bring eucharistic adoration, confession and pastoral care to areas with no church nearby. Monterrey, one of Mexico's main metropolitan areas, has 254 parishes across a territory of roughly 17,000 square kilometers, with a population of more than 5 million. Population growth has produced settlements with limited services, where the Church has little presence.

The idea came from a married couple, lay Catholics who have chosen to remain anonymous, prompted by their devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and by the need to bring the eucharistic presence to distant places. The archbishop of Monterrey, Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera López, entrusted the project to Father Adrián Villagrán, pastor of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who helped adapt the vehicle. The van has been fitted with an altar, two kneelers and seating so that a priest can hear confessions and offer eucharistic adoration.

Pulido said the chapel will go not only to outlying neighborhoods but also to busy places such as parks and shopping centers, with missionary activities and evangelization. The aim is to respond to the spiritual and material needs of the communities it visits, particularly in areas where crime linked to drug trafficking has created a climate of insecurity that limits residents' movement.

The archdiocese has set up 30 parish missions to keep pace with population growth, and 19 of them have become parishes. The steady arrival of new residents means pastoral care has to keep expanding. The mobile chapel is also intended to reach older people who have trouble traveling to a church. The archdiocese intends the chapel to complement the creation of parishes and permanent missions by bringing the Blessed Sacrament and priestly ministry to places with no permanent church presence.

Many communities have asked for the chapel to visit their neighborhoods. Pulido said that after the archbishop blessed the van, the archdiocese received many requests from people living in remote areas, where the lack of a nearby church or difficult local conditions make it hard to receive the sacraments.