Bringing pets into mass

[Allegra]

I don’t think “emotional support” animals are certifiable in most states anyway. There are other support animals that are legitimate though, that have been trained to open doors and pick up object for physically disabled people. That sort of thing.

 

[Greenfields]

The only time I’ve ever experienced an animal taken into a church was when I was visiting a church for mass during travels.As I entered someone walked past holding a cat and I worried I’d entered the wrong church.The same feeling stayed with me all the way through as there was nothing reverent about the consecration ,it really felt as though I hadn’t been to mass at all.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

There is no official certification for emotional support animals. Its one of the best kept secrets of society today. Someone says they have an emotional support animal, ask where they got their certification, they got a certificate off the internet, for example.
There is official certification Only for Guide dogs. I am not sure what the certification is for seizure dogs and if its legit. To be claimed to be a seizure alert dog is a minefield in itself.
At this point there is no objective evidence a dog can alert to seizures before they happen.

The jury is out. And its also out on how to train a dog. Really it has to be a natural thing in the dog. And that can’t be trained, only rewarded once it happens.

For example I have a dog that does know when an animal or human is about to or is having a seizure. How she knows, anyones guess. And she goes absolutely nuts when a seizure is about to happen. Its a warning like an intruder warning. Its not comforting or supportive for the person seizing but would be great for a parent . She was never trained to do this and until we find out what alerts her, what alerts a dog to the impending seizure, we can’t train the dog to it.

We can train the dog to be support and companionship when a person or animal is having the seizure. Thats real time and doable.

 

[Inquisitor85]

The church we got our son christened at (not Catholic), there was a woman who brought her pet lurcher to service every week. We thought it was quite cool, and my wife loves that she fell asleep on her foot every week.

 

[Roguish]

Yes. See this article.

 

[BartholomewB]

Once at a Sunday morning Mass I saw a dog walk in from the street. He sat down in one of the aisles, near the back, stayed there quietly all through Mass and then walked out again. When my wife mentioned it to the priest, he told her it happens quite often. Always the same dog, and only ever during Mass. He never comes into the church at any other time of day.

 

[Rob2]

I’m sure St Francis would approve .

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[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

One of our parish families trains guide dogs and at one point in their training teach them how to behave at Mass.

They start them at daily Mass, then bring them to Sunday mass.

The puppies behave better than some of the kiddos.

That being said, many years ago I read a reference to in the medieval days, or maybe renaissance, and there would be animals in church. The problem was that people didn’t clean up after their animals and there would be a smell.
I can’t remember where I read this, and it was in only that one book.

 

[Sedona]

I have been thinking of getting an emotional support mule.

 

[bluerose]

Last year, on Black Friday, someone tried to bring their “emotional support” animal into Walmart.

It was a python.

They were asked to leave.

 

[BartholomewB]

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Did St. Jerome say Mass every day in his cell? And if so, did he allow his lion to remain present? My guess is that the answer to both questions is probably Yes.

 

[Bluebright]

It depends on the church I’d guess. I dont think it’s appropriate to just assume you can. If you were going to a new parish I’d ask first or go a few times and see what is done. In my church some people do bring their dogs to mass, they are extremely well behaved dogs and not service dogs that I know of. One is a large border collie and just lies patiently and waits for his/her mistress to come back to her seat and never says boo to any one. I doubt any of the parishioners even know he/she is there. The mass is not packed but still. Another lady brings two little tiny dogs in her walker and leaves them in it, the priest brings her communion as she’s infirm. Someone else brings another little dog and I dont know what they do with it… All different masses, same church. The priest says nothing, but they were coming before he was here and he is mellow so it is probably down to the priest before. I doubt anyone minds, they all come to the parish parties too actually

 

[Augustinian]

i don’t think Jerome actually had a lion in his living quarters. The lion is pictured in hagiography so that the viewers know that saint being portrayed is Jerome.

I don’t know if it was customary for monks to say Mass every day in their cells back in the day.

 

[Peebo]

I guess Italians are more understanding …even the priest

 

[exnihilo]

I don’t know what rules there are but I think common sense tells us pets have no place at Mass.

When the priest told her not to bring her dog to Mass, did he say that out loud, in public, so that other people could hear it? Or did he tell her privately and politely, which is obviously what he ought to have done?

I don’t think the priest would have any obligation to tell the lady privately or particularly politely. Her act was public so the admonishment can and possibly should be public. And regarding politeness when someone is so self indulgent one need not work to soften the rebuke.

 

[SMHW]

Are parishioners/guests allowed to bring pets (namely dogs) into mass? Growing up Catholic and even during the past several years when I returned to the faith, I don’t ever recall seeing pets allowed into church during mass. However, I don’t think there is anything explicitly written about this (unless I missed something, which could most likely be the case).

Going back to this original post in the thread…

I am likewise not aware of any prohibition against pets at Mass. And this is as it should be; creating actual rules to correct a lack of common sense and/or common courtesy just creates a need to continually update the rules for exceptions. But that does not give parishioners license to start bringing all of their pets to Mass.

I have heard (but have no idea if this has any real basis in fact) that one of the original reasons for altar rails around the sanctuary of churches was to prevent stray livestock from wandering around the altar. And I have also heard that in some parts of the world it is not unusual for cats and dogs to wander in and out of rural churches. I have heard that many priests have pets who have the free run of the parish grounds and have been known to “visit” their master while he was saying Mass. If those stories are true then I leave it to those who live in such situations to decide what is proper.

But most of us live in areas where society has not permitted us to take our pets with us when we’ve attended social functions such church services, school classes, theater events, food shopping, etc. Exceptions have been made for working animals (law enforcement animals, service dogs, mousing cats, pets that attract the fleas away from royalty…) But exceptions are just that: exceptions. The people today who have certified animals usually have their own rules about how to handle situations where animals would not otherwise be permitted.

I do agree that animals can be of tremendous aid to people who have stress and anxiety in their lives. But it’s only recently that we’ve come up with the idea that we are entitled to be anxiety free anywhere we go. We shouldn’t (ordinarily) expect that relieving our personal stress can come at the price of making things more stressful for others. (In the case of “comfort animals”, sometimes the social setting is more stressful for the animal than the stress the person would have felt without the animal!)

I have no problem with seeing service animals (or service animals in training) at Mass. I can even see comfort animals in extremely limited circumstances. I might even make an exception for pets who cannot be safely left in a car when they are necessarily being transported through a desert. But common courtesy (and common sense) suggests one should speak to the priest to ask for guidance.

 

[ZMystiCat]

The robot voice absolutely kills that video. It’s hard to take “breaks my heart” seriously at that point, not to mention all the hilarious text-to-speech problems.

 

[Start]

Where did he get the skull?

 

[BartholomewB]

He got it from his therapist. It’s an emotional support skull.

 

[Augustinian]

Just because a saint is pictured in art with a skull, doesn’t mean he had one in his office while he was living. The addition of the skull helps to identify the saint as Jerome as well as sends a message about him.

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