Spain: Parish Priest Uses Water Gun

The parish priest of María Auxiliadora in Algeciras, southern Spain, Salesian Father Francisco Javier Cánovas Rodríguez SDB, invented a special gag for the beginning of Lent.

At the end of a Eucharist, supposedly dedicated to the "renewal of baptism", he told those present, including many children, that the holy water had not been enough for them.

So he took out a huge water pistol and sprayed the faithful: "The children were so happy that they jumped up and down in the aisle to receive the water," wrote DiarioArea.com (25 February).

According to the newspaper, the gesture "surprised" those attending the ceremony. The surprise was captured on mobile phones and uploaded to social networks.

DiarioArea.com believes that this was an 'innovative' way of reaching out to children to show that religion and fun can go hand in hand. More realistically, however, Father Cánovas' brainchild taught the children that his "religion" was not to be taken seriously.

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