Most of the 30 or so chapels at U.S. airports are tucked in a corner or on a second floor that isn\u2019t well-traveled. And most are small and plain.<\/p>\n
But the Regina Caeli Chapel at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is different, and what makes it unique might also make it endangered.<\/p>\n
The chapel, run by the Cleveland diocese, is in a prominent place, past the security checkpoint and just steps from the food court. It\u2019s large, with room for 120 people in the gleaming oak pews with maroon cushions.<\/p>\n
And it looks like the inside of a church — a Roman Catholic church, with statues of Mary, Jesus and several saints; the Stations of the Cross; papal flag; vigil light; and the Blessed Sacrament.<\/p>\n
Airport officials recently met with a representative of the diocese to discuss the chapel\u2019s future. The problem, they said, is the chapel\u2019s single-faith orientation.<\/p>\n
Todd Payne, chief of marketing and air service development at Hopkins, said the chapel\u2019s location and size were not an issue. Airport customers have said a \u201cmultifaith chapel\u201d would better meet their needs, Payne said. The airport is beginning a 90,000 square foot reconfiguration of shops and restaurants and \u201cthe city is considering options,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The chapel began in 1983 when the diocese signed a 20-year lease and spent more than $300,000 to renovate and furnish the space, said Deacon Charles Doerpers, who oversees Catholic programs at the chapel.<\/p>\n
At least 15,000 people use the chapel a year, according to Doerpers. Their donations pay the $1,200-a-year rent to the airport; the utilities; and stipends for Doerpers, who works two weeknights and on weekends; and the priests who preside at Mass.<\/p>\n
Boston\u2019s Logan International Airport opened the nation\u2019s first airport chapel in 1946 in a partnership with the Boston archdiocese. The Logan chapel retains its distinctive Catholic identity, and Fr. Richard Uftring, the chaplain, said most visitors and staff like it that way.<\/p>\n
Uftring said he sees more chapels adopting an interfaith feel, but seemed sorry for the trend. \u201cFor some, it\u2019s just a hangout place … and to me, that\u2019s not what a chapel is about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in Cleveland, Doerpers says he\u2019s concerned that business, not bias, is behind the proposed move.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Anyone who’s flown lately knows that we have a lot to pray about. “Dear God, please don’t let them cancel my flight.” “Heavenly Father, I pray my bag does not have to be checked and that I don’t have to pay the checked-bag fee…” “Jesus, I hope the bathroom doesn’t stink.” You get the idea.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","category-this-and-that"],"yoast_head":"\n
Flying the faith-filled skies. Or not. - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/06\/flying-the-faith-filled-skies-or-not.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flying the faith-filled skies. 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Or not."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic Deacon Ponders the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/5a7b3c6e9d155e382842aa310ff9b1ee","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/114\/1144d939be636f641ea021e1d347f9fdx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/114\/1144d939be636f641ea021e1d347f9fdx96.jpg","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"description":"A Roman Catholic deacon serving the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, Greg Kandra is News Director for the diocese's cable channel, NET (New Evangelization Television.) Prior to that, Deacon Greg worked for 26 years as a writer and producer for CBS News, where he contributed to \"The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,\" \"60 Minutes II,\" \"48 Hours,\" (Emmy Award, Writers Guild of America Award) and \"Sunday Morning.\" He was co-writer for the acclaimed documentary \"9\/11,\" hosted by Robert DeNiro. (Emmy Award, Christopher Award, Peabody Award, Writers Guild of America Award.) His radio essays were featured in the bestselling book \"Deadlines and Datelines\" by Dan Rather. He's also a two-time winner of the Catholic Press Association Award. Other places you may find him: AMERICA, U.S. CATHOLIC, CATHOLIC DIGEST, REALITY (Redemptorist Communications) and THE BROOKLYN TABLET. He also contributes homiletic reflections to the parish resource CONNECT!, published by Liturgical Publications. In November 2009, he began serving a three-year term as a consultant to the Communications Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Deacon Greg grew up in Maryland (Go Terps!) but he and his wife today live in the beautiful borough of Queens, New York. You can contact Deacon Greg at dcngreg@gmail.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/author\/gkandra"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}