archiemcphee:

Meet Friar Bigotón (Friar Moustache), aka Brother Carmelo, once a stray dog, now the first canine member of a Franciscan monastery in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He even has a little doggy-sized habit to wear alongside his fellow monks.

Considering that Saint Francis is the patron saint of animals, it seems only right that a Franciscan monastery would choose to adopt an animal in need.

“His life is all about playing and running,” fellow friar Jorge Fernandez told The Dodo. “Here, all of the brothers love him very much. He is a creature of God.”

“If only all the churches of our country [would] adopt a dog and care for him like Friar Bigotón,” Proyecto Narices Frías (Cold Nose Project), a local animal rescue, wrote in a post on Facebook, “we are sure that the parishioners would follow his example.”

Meanwhile it appears that Brother Carmelo is paying it forward by looking after the monastery’s fish:

[via Bored Panda and The Dodo]