Animals in heaven?

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billpenn

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Hello all.

Does the Church have any position on whether or not animals enter heaven? I am unsure given that animals do not have immortal souls.

My aunt and uncle’s dog passed away this morning, and they are devestated.

If the Church taught that they too go to heaven, I was going to point this out to them for some comfort.
 
I don’t know if the church has an official position. I once heard a Baptist preacher say that in heaven we will be perfectly happy. So if we need our animals to be happy, they will be there. Heaven is called paradise. A paradise in the ancient middle east was a lush garden. I can’t see a garden without birds and other animals.
 
billpenn said:
Hello all.

Does the Church have any position on whether or not animals enter heaven? I am unsure given that animals do not have immortal souls.

My aunt and uncle’s dog passed away this morning, and they are devestated.

If the Church taught that they too go to heaven, I was going to point this out to them for some comfort.
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Aw, I’m so sorry that your aunt and uncle lost their pet. It’s so difficult, because we love them.

I looked in the CCC, and I couldn’t find anything… specifically on whether or not animals “enter heaven” when they die. Maybe someone else will be able to fill in, on the official teaching of the Catholic Church, in this area.

But I can tell you where I found a bit of comfort when our two Boston Terriers died. I remembered a passage from the Book of Isaiah… and looked it up.

“Then the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat hay like the ox. The baby shall play by the cobra’s den, and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, as water covers the sea.” (Isaiah 11:6-9)

This is from the St. Joseph Edition of the New American Bible (Catholic Book Publishing Company). The footnote for this passage says, “This picture of the idyllic harmony of paradise is a dramatic symbol of the universal peace and justice of messianic times”.

This gave me hope, that perhaps one day… I will see my beloved little dogs again… because the presence of animals is mentioned. However, this is only my personal “hope”. We should be very, very careful not to interpret Sacred Scripture ourselves… but leave that to Holy Mother Church. However, a priest once told me that it is “ok” to hope… that we will one day see our pets again.

Wouldn’t it be just wonderful, when we reach Heaven… after seeing Our Lord, Our Lady, the saints… our relatives who have gone before us… and then… we see our pets!
 
billpenn said:
Hello all.

Does the Church have any position on whether or not animals enter heaven? I am unsure given that animals do not have immortal souls.

My aunt and uncle’s dog passed away this morning, and they are devestated.
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I’m so sorry for your aunt & uncle. It just bites to lose a pet; we lost our darling Dolly a few months ago, a cat who was far too young to be put to sleep but we had to in the name of mercy. It’s so hard and my heart goes out to them.

I had a teacher who told me no, because animals don’t think and are therefore incapable of reason, but this was the opinion of one man and a lay-person. I have never known any church position against animals in the hereafter. My rationale is, yes, they live on in Paradise. God wants us to be happy. I cannot imagine our merciful God denying the pleasure of playing fetch with a dog, riding a pony or a cat’s purr, to anyone who had not had the opportunity of experiencing such joys on earth. Heaven would be boring without cats to climb the curtains in that mansion with many rooms. And, if I am going to make it there (yeah right) I can’t play a harp; I’ll need something to while away eternity!

Blessed be,
Polska
😃
 
Our paradise in heaven is God, it’s a state of being with God and being given the gift of knowing Him as He wants us to know Him, this is perfect happiness, not a dog sitting next to you in heaven as part of it.

This doesn’t mean there will be no animals in heaven, that I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter.

It’s hard to lose a family pet, especially if it has been in the family for a while, but in the end you have to realize, it is an animal, you cared for it, it appreciated it, you love it and it loved you back, there is nothing you can do for it anymore, you just have to move on and thank God for the time He had give you with it.
 
billpenn said:
Hello all.

Does the Church have any position on whether or not animals enter heaven? I am unsure given that animals do not have immortal souls.

My aunt and uncle’s dog passed away this morning, and they are devestated.

If the Church taught that they too go to heaven, I was going to point this out to them for some comfort.
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There are NO animals in Heaven. Only humans have immortal souls. Animals have mortal souls which die when the animal dies.
 
I know how devastating it is to lose a pet. I cried for days. However, there is Church teaching on this subject.

Pets do have souls – or they would not live. The soul is the life of anything. However, pets are not made in the image and likes of God – only humans are. So pets have mortal souls as one of the posts said and humans have immortals souls. Because human souls are immortal, they live on for all eternity in either heaven or hell.

If one reaches heaven, the soul will eternally be in the full presence of perfect God’s perfect, compete, and love. Therefore, whether Spot is at our side or not will be immaterial because God will be our sole (soul’s) desire.
 
Well, if the lion will lie down with the lamb – indicates there would be animals in heaven? Pets…I hope so. 🙂
 
The Church does bless animals and encourages everyone to bring their pets to be blessed on the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi. These are God’s creatures too and, who knows, how we treat animals may be the deciding factor whether we get into heaven or not. There has been no definitive statement on whether they enter into Paradise with us or not to enjoy the Beatific Vision.
 
ProVobis said:
The Church does bless animals and encourages everyone to bring their pets to be blessed on the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi. These are God’s creatures too and, who knows, how we treat animals may be the deciding factor whether we get into heaven or not. There has been no definitive statement on whether they enter into Paradise with us or not to enjoy the Beatific Vision.
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Houses, cars etc also get blessed but that does not mean they will be with us in Heaven.
 
thistle said:
There are NO animals in Heaven. Only humans have immortal souls. Animals have mortal souls which die when the animal dies.
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I have several waiting there for me right along side my parents and several friends. I can never be convinced otherwise.
 
I think there’s a strong possibility. In the end, God will create a new heaven and a new earth. What do you think will populate this brave new world? I think it will be replete with plants and animals. Each is perfect in its own capacity and able to enjoy what God has provided. They will be animals perfected without aggression, disease or death. That’s my two cents. 🙂 I believe the pets I’ve loved and lost will be restored to me young, vibrant, whole, and very alive. 😃
 
By the way, even if God decides to let animals into Heaven (which I don’t believe) we should be focussing on ourselves getting there. Unless we die in a state of grace we won’t get there to find out!
 
The only creature that fell from grace, was MAN. Since the animals didn’t disoby God, I think they will be in heaven.
Now this is just my belief
 
thistle said:
Houses, cars etc also get blessed but that does not mean they will be with us in Heaven.
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In quoting Isaiah 11:6-9… it was not my intention to prove that animals go to Heaven. I was merely trying to offer the OP a bit of comfort.

We must believe whatever the Church teaches. However, I did speak to a priest after my little dog died… and he said that it is ok to HOPE that animal spirits have a place in God’s Kingdom (I don’t believe they have souls… in the same manner as humans do; Made in the image and likeness of God). But, being creatures of God… and created by Him… they do have a spark of Him. Whether or not that spark is extinguished in Heaven… none of us will really know, till we get there.

By the way… yes, there ARE houses in Heaven. Jesus said… “In My Father’s Kingdom… there are many mansions” (John 14:2). I’ve never heard of anyone having their car blessed… but I doubt we will need cars in Heaven, anyway.
 
“Houses, cars etc also get blessed but that does not mean they will be with us in Heaven.”

You’re right but I was reminded today of an event in Christ’s life where after He wept when a bird died in His hands, He decided to resurrect the bird. No, this passage isn’t in the Bible, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
 
thistle said:
There are NO animals in Heaven. Only humans have immortal souls. Animals have mortal souls which die when the animal dies.
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Hi Thistle. Bet St. Francis of Assisi would need his animals. They too are creatures of God. If we need them to be happy in Heaven, they will be there. That is my “opinion”. 😉 Peace.
 
ProVobis said:
“Houses, cars etc also get blessed but that does not mean they will be with us in Heaven.”

You’re right but I was reminded today of an event in Christ’s life where after He wept when a bird died in His hands, He decided to resurrect the bird. No, this passage isn’t in the Bible, but it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
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This story is in the heretical Gospel of Thomas so I firmly believe it did not happen.
 
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