The Deacon's Bench
No-nonsense Catholic Sister John Paul Bauer bagged a big deer days ago and is drawing fire from some on social media.
An image of the Pennsylvania woman on the Facebook page of the Erie Catholic Diocese has gone viral and attracted more than a million views.
The nun, a teacher at Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Mary’s, shot a 10-point buck.
“In St. Marys, this is what you do,” she said. “You go hunting. And everybody goes hunting. The coach, myself, the students.”
On opening day of deer season on Monday, she waited alone in her tree stand for about three hours for a possible target to wander by.
While she waited, she prayed the Rosary. Shortly after, a herd of doe arrived, followed by two big bucks.
She bagged the largest one, a 10-point buck with a 16-inch spread.
“I’ve always prayed the Rosary on the tree stand. That’s a tradition,” she said. “You get up in the morning. You pray the rosary in the tree stand. So, I just think the Blessed Mother did smile upon me.”
Read on. PhillyVoice, meantime, has collected some of the online reaction to this and then adds, helpfully:
An explanation to a question posted on Catholic.com clarifies that while the Church does have firm guidelines on the use of animals for “just purposes,” the Church does not officially oppose hunting for sport.
Photo: KPTV / Facebook
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