Pet lovers gathered in a church garden

CONCORD, N.H. (RNS) — As pet lovers gathered in a church garden here Saturday (Oct. 5) with dogs and photographs for the annual Blessing of the Animals, they were greeted with an assurance unlike any in years past. “I say: Bring your pet. Bring your dog and cat. I am a Haitian, and I am not going to eat them,” said the Rev. Jean Beniste, a Haitian immigrant and rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, minutes before the crowd of about 60 took their seats. “I will bless them. I will embrace them. I will embrace you. I will make community with you.” It was the first of several laugh-triggering allusions that speakers made in reference to a Sept. 10 debate remark by former President Donald Trump, who falsely alleged that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are “eating the pets of the people that live there.”