A great idea! Croatia prayer cafe

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0800877.htm

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At Croatian cafe, youths pay for drinks with Our Fathers, Hail Marys
By Jonathan Luxmoore
Catholic News Service

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- A Catholic parish in Croatia has opened a "prayer cafe" for young people, where food and drink can be purchased with Hail Marys and Our Fathers.

"In the Acts of the Apostles, it says the disciples used to come together for a meal after the Eucharist, so we're following a biblical ideal," said Salesian Father Damir Stojic. "A lot of kids used to head for neighboring cafes after Mass here. We came up with this scheme for persuading them to hang out at the church instead."

The Jedno (Sail) cafe opened recently in a parish hall adjoining Zagreb's Holy Spirit Church and attracts many of the students and young people attending the regular Sunday youth Mass.Father Stojic told Catholic News Service by telephone Feb. 15 that student helpers had thought up the idea of "paying with prayers." He said there were plans to keep the cafe open indefinitely.

He said parish leaders had encouraged parents to donate food and drink for the cafe, and church officials had supported the idea.

Father Stojic added that Jedno could be seen as "continuing a tradition," since most Salesian parishes worldwide ran cafes at their churches."

We have to like what young people like; since most of our kids still go to church and this is a coffee culture, it's the obvious thing to do," said the priest, who studied at The Catholic University of America in Washington after being ordained in 2002.

"When we provided everything free, the youngsters would come to me, saying 'Father, how do we pay for this?' and I used to say, 'Don't worry, just come to church and God will pay,'" said the 34-year-old priest.