Fans of baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers will hear strains of Gregorian chant and be offered free rosaries, crucifixes, holy cards and other goodies with a Catholic flare as they make their way to the World Series at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix this week. They’ll also see a generous-sized banner draped near the Diocesan Pastoral Center welcoming them to the Diocese of Phoenix. Volunteers will take prayer requests and offer to pray with those who request it prior to Games 3, 4 and 5 of the World Series.
The event, aimed at evangelizing baseball fans, is an echo of the Super Bowl evangelization project in front of St. Mary’s Basilica last February when more than 1,000 sacramentals were given out to passersby. Organizers say they’re gearing up for a similar effort to reach basketball fans when the NCAA’s “Final Four” Men’s Basketball Tournament takes place in Phoenix next April.
