Demand higher but access harder for airport chapels after attacks

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Posted 6:04PM on Sunday, May 26, 2002

CLEVELAND, OHIO - Hans Holthausen stopped by the amber-lighted chapel for a moment of reflection as he waited at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for his flight back home to Munich, Germany. ``When I am in a busy city, with all the things going on, it is nice to find a place to calm down and gather your ideas,'' he said. Thousands of people a day stop in at airport chapels around the world, and the number has increased since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, according to the Rev. John Jamnicky, coordinator of ministry to travelers for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. ``Many people feel the need for some strength to deal with the fears and threats,'' Jamnicky said. However, another result of the attacks increased security has made it harder for people to reach the chapels. Passenger screening at checkpoints takes longer, visitors without tickets no longer are allowed to go to the gate area, and lines for security checkpoints and baggage check-in are longer. There are 35 airport chapels in the United States and another hundred or so scattered around the world, Jamnicky said. Many began as gathering places for Catholic travelers or airport workers, but they now are open to people of all faiths. As at Hopkins, the chapel at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport is outside the security area. The airport's chaplain, Chester Cook, said that makes it harder for passengers to visit. ``People have a tendency to want to get through security and at that point, they have a lot of terminal time on the other side of the security gates,'' Cook said. He said he is discussing with the airport the possibility of including another chapel in expansion plans for the international terminal. But he and other airport clergy acknowledge that airport space is premium property for retail or other for-profit activity, and airports may be reluctant to give additional space to nonprofit chapels. Even if they did, few churches have the resources to staff a second location, Jamnicky said. Many airport chapels have only part-time staff or clergy of various faiths on call. There have been requests to move the chapel at Hopkins, said airport commissioner Fred Szabo. When people arrive, they are anxious to get through security, but then they're unable to use the chapel. The airport will re-evaluate what to do when the Catholic Church's dollar-a-year lease expires on the space. ``It's a matter of where the real estate exists. There is more unused space pre-security than post-security,'' Szabo said. The Rev. Michael G. Zaniolo, director of the chapels at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports, said new security procedures have created problems for both passengers and airport visitors. ``There is a bigger need for people to come to the chapel, but because we are on the land side (at O'Hare) it is more convenient for people who don't have to go through security people from the neighborhood and people who drop off passengers.'' At Midway, the chapel is on the gate side of security. ``Because Midway is right in the middle of a neighborhood, a lot of those people use the chapel. They would love to have the chapel on the land side'' because they no longer can get through security without a ticket, Zaniolo said. The Rev. Jack Fitzgerald, who runs the chapel at Pittsburgh International Airport, said attendance has increased since Sept. 11, but the growth has been limited because his chapel is inside the secure area. ``If we had the people who were coming in to pick up and drop off passengers, attendance would be up by a factor of two or three,'' he said. Carol Perez prays every morning at Hopkins before starting her job cleaning out airplanes. ``This is where I am able to make sure I come every day,'' she said. ``I work until 7, and after picking up the kids, by the time I get home, the churches are done for the day.'' Ed Wilkins, who lives in Lorain, just west of Cleveland, has stopped by the airport chapel regularly for 20 years. ``When I am picking up a passenger, I come a little early, and in the idle time I usually stop in,'' Wilkins said. ``Or when I depart especially when I depart I want to say a prayer.''