There is liturgical abuse and there is liturgical abuse. I don’t know what category this ridiculousness falls in to.
Rev. Roy Snipes of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Mission brings five of his large, mixed-breed dogs into the sanctuary during mass. And…And…wait for it….They even have their own vestments.
The dog actually has better vestments than Father. What is with that stole?
[USA Today]”Church can have a tendency to feel rigid and frigid to people,” he says. That dissolves when he walks into Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Mission, Texas, with his mutt pack trailing behind his robes. The dogs sometimes veer off from the processional to prowl the pews, greeting favorite people, but during Mass they generally lie quietly at the altar (though one has taken to curling up in the celebrant’s chair, so Sikes has to perch on its edge).
He’s so convinced of the power of the animals that when a newcomer complains (rarely), he says gently, “If you want to look for a church that doesn’t have dogs, I’m sure you’ll find one.” He reminds them Jesus was born surrounded by animals. “In this dehumanized era, I believe dogs are the angels that will keep us human.”
And if reasonable people object, he sends them packing. Unreal.
I wonder if Fr. Snipes has checked with the competent ecclesiastical authorities to check whether he can use the name Catholic?
All dogs may go to heaven, can’t say the same about priests.
January 13, 2012 at 7:14 pm
Just when you thought you heard it all… To think that one time in our history people gave up their lives for the Eucharist,. We now called them martrys. Is this what they shed their blood ?
January 13, 2012 at 7:39 pm
I heard this priest also substitutes liturgical songs for Kenny Chesney songs.
January 13, 2012 at 7:40 pm
I'm against women priests, but really, the argument against them looks pretty pathetic if you are going to have vested dogs around the altar.
Jesus was born around animals because he was born IN A STABLE! Jesus did NOT choose to have the Last Supper in a barn!
January 13, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Anonymous, he may not personally know Fr. Roy but he does know the Mass.. apparently more so than Fr. First Name.
Oy vey!
January 13, 2012 at 8:47 pm
I went to mass in Paraguay, at a Church that had no doors. (It had doorways, just no doors) and dogs lounged in the doorways, (and possibly inside the church as well) but never were part of the procession, wore vestments, nor were invited into the sanctuary. That is a bit bizarre.
January 13, 2012 at 10:14 pm
Must be dementia setting in or Alzheimers—and with faulty thinking comes the retirement home. Bye bye.
January 14, 2012 at 3:56 am
"He thinks he's papal" – Homer Simpson
January 14, 2012 at 4:02 am
There is a video of a folksy homily of this priest consisting of some kind of rambling story, with several large and sometimes barking dogs in the sanctuary and one large fake dog for good measure, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kNMFftihU4
I looked it up, this is in the Brownsville Diocese, under Bp Daniel E Flores. But often the people the bishop needs to hear from, are the people who live in the parish territory.
January 14, 2012 at 6:17 am
Suddenly I heard in my mind Peter Venkman predicting, "Dogs and cats living together β mass hysteria!"
I'm sure Father is a very nice guy, who tells plenty of funny stories and smiles at babies … but this is just wrong. No matter how much you love dogs.
January 14, 2012 at 10:44 am
The pastor at the Newman center when I went to college had a cocker spaniel named Angel. Angel went to Mass – she curled up in the corner quietly while Father said Mass and after he took off his vestments, she went back to the rectory with him. She was a very nice, very well behaved dog.
January 16, 2012 at 6:09 pm
I visited a Catholic Church in Destin, Florida with the same issue. The priest's golden retriever greeted congregants, and occasionally walked up the the altar, where the priest would stop everything to point to the vestibule and command the dog to go. It was a bigger distraction than the people across the altar from me in the circular pew configuration.
January 18, 2012 at 8:28 pm
This dog show well end when the first stray cat comes into the sanctuary, then the fur will fly!
January 28, 2012 at 6:59 pm
Don't go to church in Italy or most of old Europe if this bothers you. It is not uncommon to see dogs, cats, and other small barnyard animals in church.