New Zealand: Caritas advises removing shoes for St. Francis liturgy
August 18, 2011
The New Zealand bishops’ relief and development agency is advising Catholic school administrators to plan a special liturgy for the feast of St. Francis that involves taking off shoes in repentance for sins against creation.
In a flyer intended for “every single child, student, teacher and principal in every Catholic school” in New Zealand, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand calls for the planning of “a prayerful time to connect with creation” in which “we take off our shoes as a sign of repentance and respect”--an act that recalls the traditional removal of shoes during the veneration of the cross on Good Friday.
“For this liturgy we will invite you take off your shoes, as a sign of repentance, to acknowledge our connectedness to God’s creation and to each other. We want to start living more slowly, more prayerfully, more thoughtfully, in the places we live, in the loves we have.”
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Posted by: -
Aug. 18, 2011 6:44 PM ET USA
They'll need plenty of incense for this one!
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Posted by: stpetric -
Aug. 18, 2011 6:03 PM ET USA
Why do I suspect that there was some overwrought liturgist behind this stab at being "deep" and "meaningful"?
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Posted by: FrPhillips1125 -
Aug. 18, 2011 6:01 PM ET USA
I wonder if anything of the liturgy will be able to be heard above the giggles and squeals of the children as they gleefully toss their shoes aside. Probably not... but then again, that might be a good thing.
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Posted by: ltoscan2645 -
Aug. 18, 2011 2:45 PM ET USA
In this politically correct liturgy will there be any repentance against the destruction of God's creation in the womb...somehow I doubt it my experience with these environnental people is that they don't view the right to life as an important issue...how sad, how tragic...how sinful
