PHOTOS: See NYC Pets In ‘Blessing Of The Animals’

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY - Hundreds of dogs and cats - and notably, several ducks - were able to receive blessings from church officials at The Cathedral Church of St. John The Devine’s annual Blessing of the Animals procession Sunday.

The Upper West Side tradition, held for the first time proper since 2018, featured a procession of animals including a camel, ostrich, sloth and goats, plus pet blessings outside the church following the 10:30 a.m. mass. A fire in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic hindered officials from bringing back the family-favorite event for the last few years.

The rescue farm that used to provide the animals for the procession closed during the pandemic, prompting further difficulties in 2022. Cathedral officials also noted ongoing ethical debates surrounding the procession of animals in recent years.

“The years without the procession gave us an opportunity to consider the ethics of bringing those great animals into the Cathedral and surrounding them with literally thousands of people and domestic pets,” the Cathedral's Reverend Patrick Malloy said in a message to community members last month.

“We have concluded that it is indeed possible to bring animals into the Cathedral in a way that does not harm them. We have also concluded that, while the animals do bring us great pleasure, the real purpose of the procession is to recognize and give glory to God, the source of all life, for the wonders of animals great and small and in the spirit of Saint Francis, to let our hearts be moved by their grandeur.”

The tradition has been held at St. John the Divine for over three decades on the first Sunday of October and is celebrated in honor of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment.

During the mass, Malloy said pet owners’ loving bonds to animals may not dissimilar to those between humans. The relationship between man and man's best friend may be important to reconcile now more than ever, Malloy said, citing humans' responsibility to address climate change and its impact on animals.

“It’s very important right now, as we bring our animals [and] companions for a blessing, we are also very mindful of the way that we treat the environment is endangering their lives,” Malloy said.

Hundreds of New York City pets spanning a wide range of species were blessed with special prayers during pet blessings Sunday afternoon following the mass procession, a clergy official told Patch.

Some 1,500 attendees and their pets participated in the blessings, as well as pet portraits and information tables regarding environmental and community resources at the Cathedral's Pulpit Green on Amsterdam Avenue.

Lo and behold, long before pet blessings started outside, a few pet owners even managed to carry their feathered and fluffy friends to receive the Eucharist inside the cathedral.

"People love their pets, they really love them, and maybe that's different than the way people love other people, but maybe it's not different," Malloy said. "One thing is undeniable: the love people have for their companion animals - even if it is different - is no less real than the love they have for one another.

"Most of us intuit that our relationships with the people we love cannot be destroyed, even by death," Malloy added.

"That's the faith of the church ... and many people who have loved and been loved by non-human animals intuit the same thing about those relationships. That even death cannot destroy the relationship between two creatures beloved of one another, whether they are human or not."

See photos from the mass procession and pet blessings below: