Can’t pay your catechism? Clean the church instead!

The new priest at Adra, one Juan Daniel López (not the new priest in Maria, who recently flipped and called his parishioners “heretics” before telling several rambling stories about who’d done what with whom – before being saved by the lynch mob by the Guardia) has offered his poorer parishioners the chance to do odd jobs around the church instead of paying for their childrens catechism.

(Catecismo -catechism- is the Catholic session of lessons before first communion).

It usually costs 20€ to send your brat off for a few lessons with the local fiddler, sorry, priest, but due to the worsening economic crisis (35% unemployment in Almería!) Juan Daniel reckons some mothers might be prepared to come along and do some odd jobs instead of coughing up. Cleaning the church was one example he put forwards. Presumably, cooking him a nice dinner and shining his shoes may be another. How desperate are you for your son to enter Paradise?

Juan Dan has ruffled some feathers, as he refuses to teach catechism on Wednesdays, which the previous priest did for the last 15 years, moving the classes to Thursday instead. This caused some problems with the local music school, which complained that classes would clash. However, Juan Dan likes to have Wednesdays off -is Wednesday half day tee-off at the local golf course? Must check- and refused to change the classes back, meaning several kids have to turn up late to music class.

“