SW News: On Monday, February 13, while en route to catch a flight, Atlanta Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer dedicated and blessed the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport chapel that is part of his archdiocese. The eucharistic chapel in the international terminal will always be open on all days of the week providing spiritual solace to both staff and travelers.

With the archbishop's assent, the tabernacle was built in November of the previous year. However, since only visitors and airline employees are let past security, the chapel's ceremonial blessing could not be performed until this Monday. According to chaplain Father Kevin Peek, the chapel was both critically needed and well positioned given the vast number of people flying from all over the world to catch connecting flights.

As per Fr Peek, since the Eucharistic chapel opened, he has already seen people sobbing and even dancing for pleasure after learning of Christ's presence at the airport. Communion services are held on Thursdays and Fridays at 11:30 a.m., while Masses are held on Saturdays and Sundays at 4:30 p.m.

Since the airport's Eucharistic presence is an ecumenical chapel, the airport chaplaincy team had to be creative in designing the space, according to Blair Walker, the director of the Atlanta Interfaith Airport Chaplaincy, who worked closely with Fr Peek to make the space permanent.

Fr Peek hung a few photographs of his father in the chapel's sacristy, including one of him and his mother in front of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, one of him in the cockpit of a Boeing 727.

Fr Peek said, "I kind of put all that there as a statement" to emphasize how strongly he incorporated faith and family into his life and career, as well as to inspire other pilots to do the same.

Since 1998, Hartsfield-Jackson has been the busiest airport in the world by passenger volume, with the exception of 2020, when it temporarily lost the title as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States but won it back in 2021.