Posted on 07/24/2015 11:09:47 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The question of whether animals will join us in the afterlife finally has a definitive response from Rome.
It’s a topic that’s been long debated, with Popes weighing in unofficially on both sides. Last December, a story broke nationwide claiming that Pope Francis had declared that animals are going to heaven, but it turns out that the media had conflated two stories, and that it was actually Pope Paul VI who had, many years earlier, told a young boy that “one day we will see our animals in the eternity of Christ.”
Paul was later contradicted by Pope Benedict XVI, who said in a sermon that “for other creatures, who are not called to eternity, death just means the end of existence on Earth.”
Notably, neither of these were doctrinal statements, and Catholic theologians continued to disagree and debate.
But no more. Despite last year’s media mix up — and despite Paul’s and Benedict's contradictory statement — Pope Francis did just officially declare that animals will join us in heaven, in his June 18 Encyclical, which offers official and binding doctrine on the question.
In fact, he has gone far beyond animals and the afterlife, linking animals to the Trinity and declaring that the Mother of God “grieves for the sufferings of the crucified poor and for creatures of this world laid waste by human power.” For Catholics, the idea of Mary grieving for both the poor and animals, in the same sentence, is revolutionary.
So it’s almost anti-climactic that on the question of animals in heaven, Francis takes a stand: “Eternal life will be a shared experience of awe, in which each creature, resplendently transfigured, will take its rightful place and have something to give those poor men and women who will have been liberated once and for all.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Not really.
Did not Jim Robinson come over the Religion thread and warned folks to end such bashing?
I also like to point out that God did indeed make a few covenants with the animals.
1. “Then God said to Noah...I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you— with every living creature on earth.” (Genesis 9:8-10 )
2. “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature...a covenant for all generations to come.” (Genesis 9:11-13)
3. “Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds I will see it and I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind.”(Genesis 9:14,15)
4. “Whenever the rainbow appears I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”(Genesis 9:16)
5. “So God said to Noah, this is the sign of the covenant I have established between Me and all life on earth.” (Genesis 9:17)
Hosea 2:20 the reiterates the covenant: “I will make a covenant for them on that day, with the beasts of the field, with the birds of the air, and with the things that crawl on the ground
Even Revelations has animals surrounding the throne of God. All the earth is God’s creation and as many references there are in the Bible to animals, little doubt should exist that they won’t be with us in the New Earth.
As far as there being cockroaches....
Isaiah 7:18
In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
Thanks for these references.
Depends on what aspect of Catholicism you’re talking about. Our history is a wild ride, like the history of any group of human scoundrels: like the Old Testament, for a good example.
Our doctrines -— what Christ teaches us through His Bride, His Body, His Church ——are pure, sound, and coherent. That is why Scripture calls the Church the “pillar and foundation of the Truth.” (1 Tim 3:15)
A timely demise can be God's instrument (LINK) --- as this wry little video shows.
With very good reason. I thought John Paul II and Benedict were great!!
You are welcome.
As an animal hospice care provider, I often need these verses to console owners as they either let their pets die at home or have them euthanized. Most of the time it is the children or the elderly who wonder.
God loves ALL His creation and it is funny when people fail to actualize His love of His creation as they read their Bible.
Last one that really hits it home:
Genesis 9:5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
I was kind of wondering why I had been singled out-).
Envious.
I see...
We'll merely declare it to NOT be bashing!
Jonah 4:9-11
9 But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
Then why include what Christ did NOT teach?
Interesting... cute... but I’m baffled as to your intention of posting it.
Really?
Who are you to judge the Vicar of Christ?
GOD; you're getting a bit snarky here...
That which we call a rose by any other name.......
Isaiah 11:6-9
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them.The calf and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp: and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk. They shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea.
1 Corinthians 2:9
But, as it is written: That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him.
I am not Catholic, Elsie. I do not share esteem of the Pope simply because of what your church ascribes to the person holding that position. The Pope is just a man. I do not judge people in terms of eternity . . . that is reserved for God alone. However, as we ALL should do, I make judgments about people. “You shall know them by the fruit they bear.” I think that is pretty strong instruction that we should watch and make judgments about people we encounter.
The fruits I observed from John Paul II and Benedict were good; the fruits I have seen from Francis . . . ominous and troubling, not so good.
A cockroach feeds of garbage .. therefore it will never be in Heaven .. because there will not be garbage there.
Only spiritual beings will be living there.
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