Catholic Church and Wolves?

  • Thread starter Thread starter HabemusFrancis
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
H

HabemusFrancis

Guest
Hi all,

To anyone’s knowledge, did the Catholic Church ever teach that wolves were evil or of the devil?

I have been researching wolves lately. Apparently there was a huge difference in attitude to them between the Native American tribes and the peoples of Classical and Midieval Europe.

The Natives generally belived the wolf to be a noble hunter and majestic animal etc.

In Europe wolves were hated and feared. All sorts of stories of werewolves, Little red riding hood, man-eating, etc.

Gradually the wolf became extinct in many parts of Europe due to some understandable fear, but in large part superstition and irrational hatred. I read on wikipedia that sinners and devils are compared to wolves in the new testament.

Did thence Church ever teach anything about wolves per se? or was the wolf’s extinction in much of Europe just the natural consequence of an urbanized growing society living in close quarters with a dangerous predator?

Btw, Im something of an enviornmentalist!🙂
 
I like wolves, they are my favourite animals so i am interested to see how people will answer this question.
 
As far as I know, wolves have never been called “evil” by the Church. I think that stories like “Little Red Riding Hood” are an acknowledgement that wolves can be dangerous. They tend to sneak up and steal sheep and small cattle. That’s probably how they got the reputation of being “sneaky” and “immoral”. I’ve heard that in Mexico, there are lots of folk stories of wolf sitings being a sign of impending death.
 
Impending Death? Well somtimes it is not superstitious to believe impending death is coming when a wolf is around!

That makes sense about wolves I mean. I guess sinners and predators can be kind of like wolves among a flock of sheep.

Curiously enough though, wolves are making a comeback in Europe…
economist.com/news/christmas/21568656-after-millennia-spent-exterminating-them-humanity-protecting-wolves-numbers-have-risen

As long as they dont bother humans or Catholic activities too much;), I hope to see this trend continue!
 
The Church has teachings about animals. None of them are evil not even mosquitoes which kill more people than any other creature. Read the story of St. Francis and the wolf.
 
HabemusFrancis said:
Hi all,

To anyone’s knowledge, did the Catholic Church ever teach that wolves were evil or of the devil?

I have been researching wolves lately. Apparently there was a huge difference in attitude to them between the Native American tribes and the peoples of Classical and Midieval Europe.

The Natives generally belived the wolf to be a noble hunter and majestic animal etc.

In Europe wolves were hated and feared. All sorts of stories of werewolves, Little red riding hood, man-eating, etc.

Gradually the wolf became extinct in many parts of Europe due to some understandable fear, but in large part superstition and irrational hatred. I read on wikipedia that sinners and devils are compared to wolves in the new testament.

Did thence Church ever teach anything about wolves per se? or was the wolf’s extinction in much of Europe just the natural consequence of an urbanized growing society living in close quarters with a dangerous predator?

Btw, Im something of an enviornmentalist!🙂
Click to expand...
If you are a sheep, do you want a wolf nearby?

He is the Shepherd; we are His flock.

John 10:12
He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

Wolf bad. Shepherd Good. 😛
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top