.- Catholic nuns and priests in Italy have established a 98-foot-long inflatable church and a beach-convent to minister to vacationing beachgoers. Activities at the two movable venues will include opportunities to confess sins and to pray the Rosary, but not Mass.
The inflatable church will be set up on Saturday in the Molise region on the Adriatic Coast and will be staffed by priests who hear confessions, Reuters reports. The first attempt to use the church failed last month on the island of Sardinia due to strong winds.
A group of singers will also perform at the church late at night.
On the Mediterranean coast, nuns from a convent near Naples have moved to beach cabins to join vacationers saying the Rosary, with an adjoining altar set up under two tents.
“The concept of a beach-convent is something that is appreciated by vacationers and the nuns themselves," Father Antonio Rungi said to ANSA.
Italy’s larger cities empty in August, when Italians customarily holiday at the beach.
