About Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport · Orlando, Florida
The Catholic Mass location associated with the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport is the hospitality-and-traveler worship site of the Diocese of Orlando's tourism and airport ministry, situated inside the Hyatt Regency hotel that is directly attached to Orlando International Airport's main terminal. Catholic Sunday Mass has been offered to Orlando travelers since the airport's 1981 opening, originally in a chapel behind Terminal A security that was, for a time, physically inside the Hyatt Regency itself. In June 2019, the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority ended organized religious services in the post-security chapels, and the Diocese of Orlando moved the Sunday Catholic Mass into the Hyatt Regency's lobby — a change that also coincided with the move of the chaplain's worship space into the newer, more visible Terminal C chapel. The site serves both airline passengers and the airport's roughly 17,000 employees, continuing a ministry born in the mid-1980s.
- Established
- Mid-1980s (Diocese of Orlando airport ministry)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Orlando (Roman Catholic)
Why belong here
Travelers passing through Orlando International Airport — including airline crews, the airport's roughly 17,000 employees, and visitors on bereavement or holiday trips — find here one of the few Sunday Masses in the country celebrated inside an airport hotel. The Diocese of Orlando's tourism ministry keeps the Church present among a population that is constantly on the move, and the chaplaincy is also a pastoral outreach to the vendors, TSA officers, restaurant workers, and airline staff who keep MCO running.
Mass times at Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport
Weekly Mass schedule
Overview: Catholic Mass at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport
This is not a parish church in the traditional sense but a worship site of the Diocese of Orlando's tourism and airport ministry. The Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport hotel sits directly inside Orlando International Airport (MCO), and the Sunday Catholic Mass is celebrated in its lobby, a change made in June 2019 when the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority ended organized religious services inside the post-security airport chapels. The associated interfaith chapel (near Gates 1–59) and reflection room (near Gates 70–99) remain open for individual prayer, but Catholic Mass and the chaplain's pastoral work now center on the hotel lobby and the more visible Terminal C chapel space.
- Sunday Mass: 8:15 AM and 12:00 PM
- Holy Day of Obligation Mass: 12:00 PM
- Chaplaincy phone: (407) 947-5453
- Diocese of Orlando, under Bishop John Noonan
History of the Airport Chaplaincy
The Diocese of Orlando's airport ministry was born in the mid-1980s, when then-Bishop Norbert Dorsey, the diocese's director of tourism Msgr. Joseph Harte, and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority established a Catholic chaplaincy at MCO. The first and long-serving chaplain was Father Robert (Bob) Susann, M.S., a Missionary of Our Lady of La Salette, who came to Orlando after 13 years as pastor of St. Anne Parish in Marietta, Georgia, and made his home at Blessed Trinity Parish with fellow La Salettes.
- Ministry established: mid-1980s
- First chaplain: Fr. Robert (Bob) Susann, M.S. (Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette)
- Training: Chicago O'Hare International Airport under then-active airport chaplains
- Original chapel location: inside the Hyatt Regency, behind Terminal A security
- Current chapel location: Terminal C, more visible to travelers
Father Robert 'Bob' Susann, M.S. — A 19-Year Ministry
Father Susann served as the Diocese of Orlando's sole airport chaplain for 19 years, walking concourses, greeting travelers, and giving most of his pastoral energy to the airport's roughly 17,000 employees. He estimated that at least 20% of the people he encountered were traveling because of bereavement, and he frequently attended the funerals of airport workers' family members. In 2013 the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority board honored him with its highest employee award — given even though the chaplain was a volunteer. Bishop John Noonan described him as 'a guardian angel' who 'had wings' because he was always on the move, comparing him to 'our St. Francis of Assisi' and 'our St. Vincent de Paul.'
- Years of service: c. 2003 – Oct. 31, 2022
- Order: Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette
- Residence in Orlando: Blessed Trinity Parish with fellow La Salettes
- Retired: Oct. 31, 2022, to Hartford, Connecticut, after a recent heart attack
- Honored with a firetruck water-cannon salute from Aviation Authority trucks
The 2019 Move to the Hyatt Regency Lobby
In June 2019 the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority revised its policy on organized religious services inside the airport's post-security chapels, citing increased passenger volume, space allocation, and security. The Catholic Sunday Mass — which for decades had been held in the chapel near Gates 1–59 — moved to the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, the hotel that is physically attached to MCO's main terminal. Tom Draper, Senior Director of Airport Operations for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, said the move was meant to 'minimize activity in secure areas while enhancing the guest experience.' Travelers and chaplains alike called the arrangement 'a godsend.'
- Decision: Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, June 2019
- Reason: passenger volume, space allocation, and security in the secure area
- Result: organized religious services ended in the post-security chapels
- New Mass location: Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport lobby
Chapel and Reflection Spaces at MCO
Two non-secure worship and reflection spaces still exist at the airport for individual use. The original interfaith chapel, featuring a Tree of Life stained-glass window, has been in the airport since it opened in 1981. A second reflection room, with accommodations for Muslim travelers, was added in 2015 as part of a customer-service enhancement project. Both are located post-security, near Gates 1–59 (chapel) and Gates 70–99 (reflection room).
- Interfaith chapel (Tree of Life stained glass): since 1981, near Gates 1–59
- Reflection room (with Muslim prayer accommodations): added 2015, near Gates 70–99
- Post-security, no organized religious services permitted
Pastoral Care for Travelers and Airport Workers
Beyond the Mass schedule, the chaplaincy's daily work is meeting the people who keep MCO running and the travelers who pass through. Fr. Susann spoke with vendors, TSA officers, airline crews, and restaurant staff, often going to their family funerals and comforting relatives. He offered blessings, prayers, and consolation — particularly to the estimated 20% of travelers flying because of a death in the family — and heard the confessions of travelers who valued the safety of anonymity in an airport setting.
- Spiritual care for ~17,000 airport employees
- Prayer, blessings, and consolation for travelers
- Special outreach to bereavement travelers
- Confessions heard in the chapel setting
Diocese of Orlando — Tourism and Airport Ministry
The Hyatt Regency Mass site is part of the Diocese of Orlando's broader Tourism Ministry, which began in 1975 — just four years after Walt Disney World opened — when several daily Masses were organized for visitors at area hotels. That ministry was driven by Msgr. Joseph Harte, who originally carried Mass vestments from hotel to hotel in the trunk of his car. The same office oversees the airport chaplaincy today, under Bishop John Noonan.
- Diocese: Diocese of Orlando
- Bishop: John Noonan
- Tourism Ministry founded: 1975 (Monsignor Joseph Harte)
- Airport Ministry founded: mid-1980s (Bishop Norbert Dorsey era)
- National body: National Catholic Conference of Airport Chaplains
Practical Information for Visitors
Anyone wishing to attend Mass should report to the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, which is attached to the main terminal of MCO. The chaplaincy can be reached at (407) 947-5453 for current times, including any Holy Day changes. Because the airport no longer permits organized services in its secure-area chapels, the only regular Catholic Mass at MCO is the one held in the hotel lobby.
- Address: 9300 Jeff Fuqua Blvd, Orlando, FL 32827 (Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport)
- Phone: (407) 947-5453
- Diocese page: orlandodiocese.org/ministries-offices/tourism-ministry/mass-times/
- Access: ticketed passengers and airport employees welcome; no ticket required to reach the hotel from the terminal
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Robert (Bob) Susann, M.S.c. 2003 – October 31, 2022
Missionary of Our Lady of La Salette; first Diocese of Orlando airport chaplain; trained at Chicago O'Hare; served 19 years at MCO; received Greater Orlando Aviation Authority's highest employee award in 2013; retired to Hartford, CT after a heart attack.