At the San Francisco Convent in Cochabamba, Bolivia, lives a schnauzer the friars call Friar Mustache. He arrived in 2016, at just a month and a half old, brought by the Polish priest Kasper Kapron. For a time, no one knew he was purebred: he lived as if he were a stray dog, hunting rats and chasing pigeons away from the garden.
Over the years, he earned his Franciscan habit, his religious name, and the affection of every brother who passed through there. “When the brothers finish their training and leave, the little dog suffers”, said Friar Jorge Fernández, who cared for him like no one else. Carmelo grows attached, says goodbye, and waits again at the door of the first open room he finds.
When the pandemic arrived, his mere presence in the convent became a comfort. The friars say that Friar Mustache helped people hold on to the hope that “better things” would come. Today he shares a home with his son Metodio and his feline friend Friar Michy, and remains, in his own way, the little brother Saint Francis of Assisi would have kept by his side.
