All dogs, and cats, and pigs, and goats, and cockroaches go to heaven: So says Pope Francis

NY Daily News ^ | 07/24/2015 | BY BRUCE FRIEDRICH

[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.”

[Georgia Girl 2]

I draw the line at cockroaches. :-)

[Biggirl]

Try telling that to the little boy who became the basis of both the book and the movie, “Heaven Is For Real.”

[Biggirl]

Amen

[Kickass Conservative]

Sorry, but everyone knows that only Mammals go to Heaven, even the ones we Eat, turn into Leather Furniture, Shoes, Belts and Purses.

[ImaGraftedBranch]

I have no doubt my golden had a soul; when I returned from a business trip she would moan - deeply, continuously, from the depths....of her mortal soul.

I would love to see her again, but God created us in His image, not animals. He saw fit to give them a soul. While mortal, it was enough to draw me closer to God.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

I believe it’s in Lamentations where God speaks through Solomon and explains the Spirit of the Animals descends to the Earth and the Soul of Man ascends to the Heavens.

[MrB]

Yep. That story was interesting but there were some scriptural problems with it.

[Mrs. Don-o]

It happens I just finished reading Laudato Si for the *third* time (I'll bet very few people on the planet can say that) and I can tell you quite definitively that there's nothing infallible in the document.

I color-coded the paragraphs as to their degree of magisterial authority, as far as I could tell from the usual criteria, and as far as I could determine, more than half of it was strictly non-Magisterial: which is to say, it dealt with topics which are outside of the competence of the Magisterium, e.g. geophysics, climatology, chemistry, biology, sociology, urban planning, economics, diplomacy and politics.

The thingy about all the animals being in heaven is dicey, because it does deal with a faith-and-morals question, i.e. our eternal destiny. However, this is not handled in the manner of a definition of doctrine, but rather as a kind of musing. I would call it a "the·o·lo·gou·me·non" (there, my biggest word of the day) which means, a personal theological opinion.

That about right, campion?

In any case, there was nothing in there about not being allowed to eat animal products.

So. Peacefully and in good conscience, back to my bacon.

[Mrs. Don-o]

"So cats, dogs and goats are created in God’s image . . . that is, created as spiritual beings?"

That is not in the encyclical. In fact, it is explicitly refuted.

" If this Pope would read his Bible he would have learned that God gave man dominion over the beasts of the field."

If you would read the encyclical, you would have learned that the Pope agrees with you on this.

Not that I'm a big fan of Laudato Si. Far from it. I just don't like it being flipped off by people who haven't even read it.

Do the right thing and flip it off later, after you've read it.

[Biggirl]

....And those problems are what?

[Mrs. Don-o]

Right, SeekandFind, there are Scriptures saying that "all creation" is at present groaning to be liberated from futility. (Romans 8).

Romans 8:19-21
For the creation waits in eager expectation
for the children of God to be revealed.
For the creation was subjected to frustration,
not by its own choice,
but by the will of the one who subjected it,
in hope
that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

There is also the vision of the "Peaceable Kingdom" where the lion and he lamb live in peace, and all creation is renewed in the eschatological order (sourced from texts such as the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 2: 2-4 and Isaiah 11:6-9), the Book of Hosea (Hosea 2:18-19), and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:43-48).

This is quite different from saying that human nature and animal nature are the same. Humans are divine image-bearers, and are to live in benevolent dominion over the rest of creation.

There is, by the way, nothing in Laudato Si which contradicts this.

[Biggirl]

AMEN!

[Mrs. Don-o]

More accurately, encyclicals are teaching documents, and therefore they can be expected to contain papal teachings n faith and morals, which are binding as part of the Ordinary Magisterium.

There are most definitely parts of LS which deal directly with faith and morals, and constitute a part of the Church's magisterial teachings.

However, less than half of this particular encyclical deals with "faith and morals" and therefore less than half of it is part of the magisterium. More than half of it deals with prudential judgments, the physical sciences, the social sciences, public policy proposals, and other non-Magisterial material.

I don't blame anyone for being confused.

The encyclical itself states, more than once, by way of a disclaimer, that the Church has not got the authority nor the intention of replacing science and politics. Amen to that, brother./

Nevertheless, I think it was a kind of category error on the part of the Pope to lard so much non-magisterial material in there, to begin with.

[Mrs. Don-o]

“Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.”- Mark Twain

Great quote. I'm stealin' that.

[Mrs. Don-o]

“Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.”- Mark Twain

[Salvation]

I don’t think so. Where are these animals’ souls?

It’s souls that go to heaven, right?

[RatRipper]

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.

So the article is a lie then. OK. Not going to waste my time reading a Pope's encyclical . . . I'm Presbyterian. I have been watching this guy and I continue to hold my opinion that he is evil. Anybody that espouses support for socialist/Marxist ideals, along with taking a hard stand on the global warming hoax, using his position of leadership in the church to do so, certainly deserves the title "evil". Those principles which he supports is antithetical to the Bible's portrayal of man as a free moral agent. Jesus did not chase the Rich Young Ruler down when he turned and walked away. Furthermore, it is a highly suspicious occurrence that a Pope with such views was installed after the first Pope resignation in 500 years. I firmly believe he is a plant. From what I have seen, he seems to have some highly questionable views.

[SkyDancer]

I love my dog and cat but they have no idea of accepting Yeshua. Maybe vicariously through me, but .....??

[Mrs. Don-o]

I agree with you that there's a whole lot in this encyclical that shouldn't be there. More than half of it deals with prudential judgments, the physical sciences, the social sciences, public policy proposals, and other non-Magisterial material. Which is to say, it is strictly outside of the competence of the magisterium.

I was just talking with a Catholic friend who knows a whole lot more about the international Left than I do. She says she can see the fingerprints of "United Religions" and "Agenda 21" are all over this thing. I'm doing a little research about this online: some say the Pope's diplomatic efforts are heavily influenced by the Sustainable Development Goals (an Agenda 21 project) --- which, among other things, is dominated by neo-Malthusians.

To quote Michael Matt: "The Mystery of Iniquity is at hand, and anyone who tells you he has it all figured out is either lying or insane. We must neither panic nor despair but rather watch and pray for Pope Francis even as Christ prayed for Peter—that ‘his faith will not fail him.

If Pope Francis is in fact leading things astray to this extent, I'd want for him what I'd want for my own self under the same circumstances: a timely and repentant demise, and a merciful judgment.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Revelation 4:7 (and other verses) says that around the throne of the Lamb in heaven were four Living Creatures, which appeared to be a Lion, an Ox, a Man, and an Eagle in flight.

Now, people can get in arguments from here to Kingdom Come about the symbolism in Revelation. Some people say that these four Living Creatures represent all that is noblest, strongest, wisest, and swiftest in creation.

Together with the Scriptures cited in #71, that forms the basis for some sort of expectation that all that is best in Creation will be "liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God," as St. Paul teaches us in Romans 8:19-21.

I can't go any farther than that. I personally think God created all these creatures to show forth His abundant goodness, and, frankly, because He gets a kick out of them.

Psalms 104:31 "May the glory of the Lord endure for ever, may the Lord rejoice in his works."

Since God "rejoices" in His works, it doesn't violate His goodness to think He'll do just what it says in Romans 8: liberate them.