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 ...
Just as long as me and my wife’s cat don’t end up in the same place ... however that has to work out.
That’s in the Bible just as abortion, penumbra, fag marriages, and privacy is in our Constitution.
Where did this buffoon come from?
Only humans are spiritual beings created in God’s image so it would seem ludicrous for farm animals, insects etc. to share in a heavenly reward. However, the love we extend to pets would seem to place them in a different position.
Isn’t there a Catholic Church vs. (I think) Presbyterian church dogs to yo heaven Internet meme?
Except that Heaven for cockroaches is the same place we call hell...
This is the ONLY thing I like that this guy has said. Can’t wait to be reunited with our beloved pets. But did he really include roaches?????
I have no idea but I sure hope so because I like beef in my chili beans.
That means the Terminx man is a shoo-in!
Or he’s been huffing some of that Holy Smoke.
It might be a good idea for most of them to go to hell, what good would they do any one up there all by them selves.
Humani Generis, Pope Pius XII
I can find nothing in the Bible that supports that, but neither can I find anything that opposes it.
Animals are not moral agents, however. I don't know, but I can always hope..
Heaven is NOT just for Humans. Heaven is filled with animals too. There is a verse in the New Testament that states that the Animals and Plants are awaiting for his return too.
I believe my late pet dogs are with my late parents. We had 1 Box, 1 Rottweiler, and 1 Black Lab Raffles. My mother always called our black lab “her baby”. Raffles was so unique and he was a Christmas puppy because he was born on Christmas Eve.
2 years after my mother passed away at the age of 80 on a Tuesday on at 1:30 am. Me and my father had to move out of our rented home and moved into the apartment. We had to took 13 year old Raffles with us. Being an older dog, he had dry coarse hair with a lot of gray hair. They did not allow pets so we had to surrender Raffles to the pound and this happen at the end of November. I have always had in back of my mind what happen to Raffles.
One night in December, I had a dream of my mother but she looked like she was in her 50’s. I said “Mom”, but all she did was smile to me. I notice something dark running around her. I looked down and I saw Raffles. I said “Raffles”. As I looked closer I was surprised to see him with No Gray Hairs, and hair was that of a puppy. I thought “where am I”. Why is a old dog like Raffles have hair so smooth and fluffy like a puppy when he is old?. My mother kept smiling at me and did not say a word and I woke up.
While I was at work I called the pound due to that dream that night. I was told by the clerk that Raffles was put to sleep last Tuesday at 1:30 pm. This was in December the same month he was born, also on the same day and time. I was like WHOA!
I felt God was saying to me “don’t worry I have everything under control. He is with your mother, he is ok”. I felt reassured and in peace.
Then I stumble across a bible verse in the New Testament where it said for even the animals and plants await for HIS return. Wow that also gave me comfort. No doubt ALL animals will be in Heaven. ALL GOD’S CREATION will be Heaven. HEAVEN is not just for Humans but for ALL of his creations.
And it will be served in heaven. Otherwise we're someplace else.
Um, did anyone else notice the not so subtle repositioning of Mary towards something more Mother Earthish/Gaia-esque?
That would, to me, seem much more significant here than the notion of animals going to Heaven.
God “spoke” creation into existence. He said “let there be” and each animal kind was created.
He shaped a handful of creation into man and “breathed” His life into it.
Humans and animals are fundamentally different. There may “be” animals on the new Earth created after the final war but animals do not have souls.
Socialist, touchy-feely, kumbaya “worldly” maybe.
Liberals believe you should tell a lie if it makes someone feel better. Conservatives believe you should tell the truth even if it hurts someone.
His narrow statement is correct. We will see our animals again, and when the earth is finally restored again, they will be, just as we will be. Nothing was created to die. Man wasnt. Animals were not. Death is the enemy and was not created by God during His 6 days of creation. Mans fall ushered death into the world. God never declared death to be part of his “very good” creation.
http://www.openbible.info/topics/animals_after_death
what about animals like elephants? or dolphins? or whales? or chimps?
these are all clearly intelligent animals. they feel emotions that we can identify with. look at the behavior of elephants when they come across the bones of a long lost friend... or dolphins that have attacked sharks to save shipwrecked sailors lost at sea... or chimps recognizing themselves in a mirror... i think there is more to God’s relationship with animals than we realize. it would seem very cruel for God to create such creatures, allow them to lives their lives on this planet (sometimes in misery - such as captive circus elephants in 3rd world countries) and then abandon them at their moment of death.
i’m not anthropomorphizing them... just noting that there is a big difference between a cockroach and an elephant and it would seem an unjust thing for a just God to not allow for some sort of eternal existence for their consciousnesses.
I haven’t the slightest idea how God works it, but to know that somehow He does, and will.
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