The Problem of the Pastor’s Dog
GUEST COLUMN
An owner treats his dog like family. Both live together in a bond of great intimacy and affection.
Priestly dog ownership raises a trifling but ticklish question: Should a pastor house his dog in the rectory? Moral theologian Francis J. Connell, C.SS.R., replies with an equivocal “yes and no.”
Neither divine law nor the general law of the Church forbids a priest from owning a domesticated carnivorous canine. The propriety of using the rectory as a dog house is, however, an arguable point.
Bishops rarely lay down rules regarding a priest’s in-house pets. On this topic, Canon Law is silent. Holy Writ mentions the dog over 40 times, but mostly in terms of contempt and aversion — e.g., “As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly” (Prov. 26:11) and “Do not give dogs what is holy” (Mt. 7:16).
You May Also Enjoy
Hot Air... Flushed Away... Sister Bishop... Don't Sweat It... The Honeymooners... The Things Money Can Buy... A World of Pain... The Body Politic
Reviews of Doctrinal Standards in the Wesleyan Tradition... Correspondence of Flannery O'Connor and the Brainard Cheneys... Patrology, Volume IV: The Golden Age of Latin Patristic Literature... Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Exile and Return in the History of Judaism... The Ordeal of Civility: Freud, Marx, Levi-Strauss, and the Jewish Struggle with Modernity... Against the Protestant Gnostics... Marxism and Religion: A Description and Assessment of the Marxist Critique of Christianity... Letters of Etienne Gilson to Henri de Lubac... Letters of Marshall McLuhan... The Altruistic Personality: Rescuers of Jews in Nazi Europe... First Steps in Prayer
Morality based on the opening of the soul expressed by the prophets of Israel, the mystic philosophers of Greece, and the authors of the Gospels defies all calculations of self-interest and promises joy.