“Someone has joked, ‘In Central America it’s not really a valid Mass unless there is a dog present.’ I was therefore amused to see that at one of the Pope’s liturgies in Brazil a stray dog wandered onto the stage. For five years I took some American high school kids to El Salvador on a mission trip. The Catholicism I experienced there helps me admire and understand Pope Francis. Sometimes there were dogs at the liturgy. Sometimes there were madmen and screaming children. There was loud music and no air conditioning. It was hot. It was real. It was the beautiful struggle man!”
In a recent commentary, Father Dwight Longenecker (parish priest at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Greenville, SC) reflected on some Catholic ideas and principles that are “deeply woven into the South American and Central American worldview and self understanding.” Consequently, their emphasis on community and family and shared responsibility for one another is higher on the agenda than this emphasis tends to be in the United States.
To access Fr. Longenecker’s complete post, please visit:
Standing on My Head: The Pope the Dog and the Bicycle Bell (13 AUG 13)
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