Argentine priest in ‘Minions’ hat makes fruit salad during Pentecost Mass to explain Holy Spirit

RÍO CUARTO, Argentina (LifeSiteNews) — An Argentine priest has drawn widespread criticism after preparing a fruit salad mid-Mass on Pentecost Sunday, purportedly to illustrate the fruits of the Holy Spirit for children.

Videos of the event circulated on social media following the May 24 Mass at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in the Diocese of Río Cuarto, Argentina, and were reported by several Catholic media outlets. During the celebration, Father Carlos Costale associated particular fruits with the traditional fruits of the Holy Spirit (for example, an apple to represent love and a banana to represent joy) before distributing the finished fruit salad to those present.

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Costale carried out the activity while wearing an apron with the logo of Argentinian soccer team Boca Juniors and a yellow-and-blue Minions character hat. The visual presentation formed part of an explanation intended for children attending the Mass. Supporters of the initiative said the activity was designed to “help younger participants understand the meaning of Pentecost through images and examples adapted to their age.”

On May 29, the Argentine blog El Wanderer described the scene as a payasada (“clownish performance”) and addressed a series of public questions to Adolfo Uriona, Bishop of Río Cuarto, regarding liturgical oversight in the diocese.

“Do you think that the clownish acts performed by this priest, accompanied by a few catechists, have any pastoral effect?” the blog asked in one of several questions directed to the bishop.

The same article questioned whether Uriona or other diocesan authorities had taken any measures against the priest, since this is not the first time Costale carried out similar activities during the Mass. According to the Instagram profile of the parish, Costale “performs” almost every Sunday.

The blog also recalled that Pope Leo XIV, during a May 27 general audience, reminded the faithful that liturgical norms must be observed without exception and that the Mass cannot be altered on one’s own initiative, so as to avoid creating confusion among the faithful.

Furthermore, according to Redemptionis Sacramentum, the Church’s instruction – approved by Pope John Paul II in 2004 – which regulates the celebration of the Eucharist and seeks to prevent liturgical abuses, states, “in some places, abuses committed in liturgical matters are a daily occurrence, which obviously cannot be tolerated and must cease.”

Redemptionis Sacramentum adds: “The Mystery of the Eucharist is too great for anyone to treat it with personal whim, which would fail to respect its sacred character and universal dimension. Whoever acts in this way – even if a priest – following personal inclinations, harms the substantial unity of the Roman rite, which must be firmly safeguarded.”

It continues: “[Priests] must not empty their ministry of its profound meaning by deforming the liturgical celebration through arbitrary changes, reductions, or additions.” And further: “The reprehensible practice must cease whereby priests, deacons, or even the faithful alter at will here and there the texts of the sacred Liturgy that they pronounce. By doing so, they destabilize the celebration of the sacred Liturgy and often distort its authentic