They arrived nonstop from ten in the morning.
On leashes, in people’s arms, some poking their heads out of backpacks. Father Ernesto Agüera opened the doors of the San Juan Bautista parish in Santa Fe, Argentina, expecting a good turnout to bless dogs for Saint Roch. He ended up with nearly 200 animals filling every corner of the church, including a cat that slipped in among so many wagging tails.
“I’m incredibly happy; it was a wonderful morning”, said the priest, still surprised by what had happened. Tradition has it that a dog saved Saint Roch by bringing him bread while he was sick and alone, which is why he is now the patron saint of animals. Several of the little dogs that came that Sunday were in fact named after him.
But Agüera went beyond the religious anecdote. He spoke about cities as places of great loneliness amid the crowd, and about how a pet forces us to look beyond ourselves. The event is now scheduled for every August 16, with cats waiting their turn in October.