Pictured are Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter (left) and Bill Paauwe. (Titus Kana)

October 4th is the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. During the month, many Catholic churches celebrate with a blessing of the animals, as Saint Francis had a love of all creatures.

But this past weekend, the Congregational Church of Patchogue in Long Island New York held a blessing for stuffed animals.

As Rev. Dwight Lee Wolter told Here & Now‘s Robin Young, he decided to offer the blessing because “those relationships that people have with stuffed animals can be just as real as the relationships they with live animals or even with humans.”

• Read more on this story via WSHU

Guest

• Dwight Lee Wolter, pastor of the Congregational Church of Patchogue in Patchogue, New York.