Animal rights during the Mass

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donanobis

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Our new priest lets his dog run loose during daily Mass; walks the aisle, stretches near the altar in the funniest positions (even at the Consecration), waits to be petted at Communion. Has anyone else have this happen in their parish? Is there any church law against a dog at the altar? Any suggestions?
 
donanobis said:
Our new priest lets his dog run loose during daily Mass; walks the aisle, stretches near the altar in the funniest positions (even at the Consecration), waits to be petted at Communion. Has anyone else have this happen in their parish? Is there any church law against a dog at the altar? Any suggestions?
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Wow, I’m almost speechless! :eek: I can’t believe a priest would allow a dog to disrupt the holy sacrifice of the Mass in that way. You should write a letter to your Bishop or something, that kind of thing should not be going on!
 
I love my dachshunds, my dachsund/pug,my pug and my Boston Terrier and even my dad’s shepherd mix, but, I could not take them to Mass with me. Unless the dog is a service dog, it has no business being in church, especially during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

I would suggest bringing this up charitably with the priest. If that does not work, then, a letter to the bishop would be in order.
 
donanobis said:
Our new priest lets his dog run loose during daily Mass; walks the aisle, stretches near the altar in the funniest positions (even at the Consecration), waits to be petted at Communion. Has anyone else have this happen in their parish? Is there any church law against a dog at the altar? Any suggestions?
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Oh my…I can say that, NO I have not had that happen in my parish. Wow. :eek:

A dog has no place at Mass. I’m sorry dog lovers. Jesus died for us humans…What, the dog can’t be by himself for and hour? Come on…
 
It would be sooooo difficult to get my kids to focus on the mass if there was a dog roaming around.

Before I wrote to the Bishop, I think I’d just ask him in a casual sort of way… “So Father… what’s up with the dog in mass???”

Maybe he is some sort of service dog? Maybe he alerts your Priest that he’s about to have a seizure or something?
 
I just can’t believe how insenstive this is…not only does it disturb the peace and quiet of the Mass, some people are actually allergic to dogs! Yikes!
 
I can hardly believe this post is for real! A priest with no more common sense than to bring a dog in and then let it roam around during the Mass [edited]. Have a word with the priest and let him know that this is quite unacceptable. Perhaps he never heard of doggie daycare? I doubt that he will listen to your objections or suggestions if he is foolish enough to think this is ok. A call to the bishops office immediately after would be my recommendation.
 
Sherry_G said:
I can hardly believe this post is for real! A priest with no more common sense than to bring a dog in and then let it roam around during the Mass [edited]. Have a word with the priest and let him know that this is quite unacceptable. Perhaps he never heard of doggie daycare? I doubt that he will listen to your objections or suggestions if he is foolish enough to think this is ok. A call to the bishops office immediately after would be my recommendation.
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Actually, I have witnessed this twice down here at one particular parish. To the dog’s credit, she was very well behaved and quiet. Of course, that is not to say that I condone the practice and I believe that this was addressed to the pastor. Don’t get me wrong. I love my canine crew, but, inasmuch as they are God’s creatures, they don’t belong at Mass.
 
I feel like there HAS to be something we don’t know. I just can’t imagine why the priest and the whole congregation would be okay with this and the bishop would not have already heard about it (from visitors at least if not the congregation). The whole idea seems crazy.
 
PatrickSebast said:
I feel like there HAS to be something we don’t know. I just can’t imagine why the priest and the whole congregation would be okay with this and the bishop would not have already heard about it (from visitors at least if not the congregation). The whole idea seems crazy.
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The congregation and bishop are probably just becoming aware of this because OP said this was a new priest. Without any other facts it sounds like something is about to be done to stop this. Maybe this priest thinks that St. Francis of Assisi would do the same?
 
yellowbird said:
Maybe he is some sort of service dog? Maybe he alerts your Priest that he’s about to have a seizure or something?
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I would hope that is the case but most service dogs are far more disciplined than this dog has been described.
 
PatrickSebast said:
I feel like there HAS to be something we don’t know. I just can’t imagine why the priest and the whole congregation would be okay with this and the bishop would not have already heard about it (from visitors at least if not the congregation). The whole idea seems crazy.
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No. The OP was clear enough!

A former parish priest in a parish i used to be at had a large black mongrel animal named “Mel” (Melchior). The thing would follow the priest as he processed down the aisle, and would then sit in the Sanctuary and scratch itself (fleas?) and distract us in other ways. There was no point in complaining because most people thought the whole spectacle was great! Made Mass more entertaining.

On their way into the church before Mass, a lot of folks would pat the beast, and later on, shake hands, and then receive our Lord with their hand… “God wouldn`t mind.”!

The priest was a trendy type.

A lot of abuses are successfully introduced because Mass-goers think they`re “NICE”.
 
georgewithfaith said:
Maybe this priest thinks that St. Francis of Assisi would do the same?
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It’s hard to speculate what he might be thinking, but even on the Feast of St. Francis, pets and other animals are to be blessed outside the church, and not inside. Or is that different at this parish, too?
 
Even our former pastor, who was usually shadowed by his Samoyed, Skipper, would not have him at Mass. The only exception was the day that there was a thunderstorm during the Saturday evening Mass and that was my doing rather than the pastor’s.

The ‘rectory’ and office area were all part of the church building and the only thing separating that area from the church itself was the sacristy door. With the second clap of thunder I hear Skip clawing at the door and whining.

I knew he was terrified of thunder and I’d seen the damage he was capable of causing if he wanted to get in or out of a room so I got up and let him in to the church. He made a beeline for his master, who didn’t acknowledge him. After reassuring himself that his master was there, Skip curled up on the floor and never moved until the recessional.
 
I agree that he probably won’t listen to objections if he is foolish enough to think this is ok. I feel he should have been sensitive to how this act would come across and begin with an explanation to those present, every time, which is not what happened. I was appalled at the business as usual attitude of those present. I am still in shock 2 weeks later and am hesitant to attend another daily Mass as I found myself snickering at the antics of the dog at the Consecration. My initial reaction to this display was that it was taunting, dramatic, insensitive, testy, and pathetic, as well as humorous.
Sherry_G said:
I can hardly believe this post is for real! A priest with no more common sense than to bring a dog in and then let it roam around during the Mass [edited]. Have a word with the priest and let him know that this is quite unacceptable. Perhaps he never heard of doggie daycare? I doubt that he will listen to your objections or suggestions if he is foolish enough to think this is ok. A call to the bishops office immediately after would be my recommendation.
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First I join with others in stating that I don’t agree with animals (unless guide dogs etc) in the Church, having said that there was a lady in our parish who would bring her dog with her when she attended Mass. To the credit of the dog, she/he would curl up under the seat and sleep it out. Unless you saw this person coming into the church, you never knew that the dog was there. 🙂
 
I remember a priest once brought a dog into his early morning mass once. It was how the man’s religious order learned he was beginning to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.
 
Phemie said:
Even our former pastor, who was usually shadowed by his Samoyed, Skipper, would not have him at Mass. The only exception was the day that there was a thunderstorm during the Saturday evening Mass and that was my doing rather than the pastor’s.

The ‘rectory’ and office area were all part of the church building and the only thing separating that area from the church itself was the sacristy door. With the second clap of thunder I hear Skip clawing at the door and whining.

I knew he was terrified of thunder and I’d seen the damage he was capable of causing if he wanted to get in or out of a room so I got up and let him in to the church. He made a beeline for his master, who didn’t acknowledge him. After reassuring himself that his master was there, Skip curled up on the floor and never moved until the recessional.
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This is very sweet and something I would have probably done as well. I think this is a very unique and rare exception of showing kindness to the pet… unlike the OP’s example which is really odd. I wonder what that Priest does during weddings and funerals?

OP - you’ll have to update us… I’m curious how it gets resolved.
 
Alexander_Smith said:
Wow, I’m almost speechless! :eek: I can’t believe a priest would allow a dog to disrupt the holy sacrifice of the Mass in that way. You should write a letter to your Bishop or something, that kind of thing should not be going on!
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Talk to the Priest first, Bishops are NOT complaint desks.
Let us know how things worked out 🙂
 
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