W
WilT
Guest
We all love these fun and furry creatures but I ask myself that when they die do they go to a doggy/kitty heaven or with us or will there be another place waiting for them when they go?
:shrug:
:shrug:
- Status
meltzerboy
New member
From what I’ve gleaned, the Church view on this is, yes, animals have souls but they are not immortal souls, so that when they die, they go nowhere. Needless to say, not all Catholics agree and I’m not entirely sure this is explicit Church teaching. Further, I’ve heard from Catholics that if we should need our pets in heaven, they may be provided for our happiness.We all love these fun and furry creatures but I ask myself that when they die do they go to a doggy/kitty heaven or with us or will there be another place waiting for them when they go?
G
GuyNextDoor
Guest
From all the materials I have read, yes they do have souls & so do plants. And this teaching is found in the Catechism too.
However the souls of animals & plants are distinctively different from the souls of humans. When animals die, their souls perish with their physical bodies because their souls are material.
The soul of a human is spiritual, thus it is immortal. Our souls are rational, theirs aren’t and ours are rational because they’re spiritual, not material.
For more information on how the Church sees animals in the lives of human beings, check the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2415-2418 or you could look at the links below:
ewtn.com/expert/answers/pets_in_heaven.htm
catholic.com/quickquestions/do-animals-have-souls-like-human-beings
dreamshore.net/rococo/pope.html
padrepiosworld.com/page17.php
However the souls of animals & plants are distinctively different from the souls of humans. When animals die, their souls perish with their physical bodies because their souls are material.
The soul of a human is spiritual, thus it is immortal. Our souls are rational, theirs aren’t and ours are rational because they’re spiritual, not material.
For more information on how the Church sees animals in the lives of human beings, check the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2415-2418 or you could look at the links below:
ewtn.com/expert/answers/pets_in_heaven.htm
catholic.com/quickquestions/do-animals-have-souls-like-human-beings
dreamshore.net/rococo/pope.html
padrepiosworld.com/page17.php
R
RosslynV
Guest
What about great white sharks?? An animal doesn’t have to be fluffy to qualify for a soul
U
undeserving
Guest
I for one would definitely want to see the animals who shared my life over the years after I die.
The Almighty made them, he would not have made them if he did not love them. he gave them to us to be our companions on our earthly journey, why would he deprive us of the joy of being united with them after this life is over?Why would he destroy irrevocably his own creations? Animals suffer in this world, sometimes horribly, shouldn’t they to deserve to be in a place of joy and peace?I don’t know anything of course, but these are my thoughts.
The Almighty made them, he would not have made them if he did not love them. he gave them to us to be our companions on our earthly journey, why would he deprive us of the joy of being united with them after this life is over?Why would he destroy irrevocably his own creations? Animals suffer in this world, sometimes horribly, shouldn’t they to deserve to be in a place of joy and peace?I don’t know anything of course, but these are my thoughts.
H
Holly3278
Guest
All living things which includes humans, animals, and plants have souls. They each differ in different ways though. Here is a very good link which is an introductory explanation of the types of souls and the soul’s functions:
stpeterslist.com/941/intro-to-the-soul-6-questions/
Saint Peter’s List has more articles about souls as well. Here are a couple more articles which go more in depth than the first article:
stpeterslist.com/7743/think-animals-and-plants-do-not-have-souls-3-lists-to-make-you-think-again/
stpeterslist.com/861/animals-have-souls-6-inquiries-into-their-powers/
stpeterslist.com/941/intro-to-the-soul-6-questions/
Saint Peter’s List has more articles about souls as well. Here are a couple more articles which go more in depth than the first article:
stpeterslist.com/7743/think-animals-and-plants-do-not-have-souls-3-lists-to-make-you-think-again/
stpeterslist.com/861/animals-have-souls-6-inquiries-into-their-powers/
G
GuyNextDoor
Guest
If I am to contemplate on this matter while I am still alive on this temporal world filled with pain & sufferings, yes I would desire the same as you & cling onto anything that would give myself even the slightest sense of happiness or comfort (eg. company of pets in heaven) to join us in heaven.
However, heaven is not a temporal world of pain & suffering. Its an eternal place of happiness, joy & love. Apart from God, we won’t need anyone or anything else in heaven. Everything else on earth & in heaven is a distraction from God.
God Bless,
GuyNextDoor
P
Petaro
Guest
I am afraid I have to agree with this wise post. I say afraid as I am still as a child spiritually and want the physical things I love, like my dog Marsha, and cannot conceive of only wanting God, which is, in truth, our only future happiness.
The Church teaches that the souls of animals are not immortal, but I will wait and see. God is so great His power is beyond my comprehension as is His love for me. As I child I can still believe in Santa.
M
MaryT777
Guest
Well said!
Mary.
C
chefmomster2
Guest
See this link from “Ask an Apologist”:We all love these fun and furry creatures but I ask myself that when they die do they go to a doggy/kitty heaven or with us or will there be another place waiting for them when they go?
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=888996&highlight=pets+heaven
U
undeserving
Guest
You know i was not thinking so much about consoling myself after this life is over as wondering why, animals who are his creation, cannot also have the same peace and joy as human beings, considering that they were made by him, and also suffer in this world.God bless.
W
WilT
Guest
http://forums.catholic-questions.org/picture.php?albumid=2520&pictureid=17127
hard to say this guy will make it!
G
GuyNextDoor
Guest
It is a valid question, an answer I could give a try to which I may not be right.
But this is what I believe when Genesis 1:26 says “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness”; that we are created by God with a “personal touch”. The image of God refers to the immaterial part of man. It sets man apart from the animal world, fits him for the dominion God intended him to have over the earth, and enables him to commune with his Creator, because God is Spirit and so does man possess the spirit. I may not phrase it quite right but perhaps you get the idea.
It does not mean God don’t love the animals which He created, just that He intended them for a different purpose, thus they were not created in His image. The distinctive differences are quite clear. Man have a conscience or a “moral compass”, can reason, choose, create things and commune with God, etc but not animals. That alone, tells what God intends for us when He made us. Through our conscience, free will, our communion with God & our diligence in our constant spiritual, physical & moral struggles in this life, we may attain Heaven. But animals cannot do the same, their law is the survival of the fittest and sadly, that’s about it.
In order for animals to be able to strive for heaven, we must understand the criteria(s) for them to even have a fighting chance. They must have a conscience, be rational & have a similar intellect as man, which derives from the immortal soul & spirit. Having a bigger brain is not enough. If God create animals with the same immortal soul, intelligence & spirit, earth will be ten times more chaotic than it is already now. Humans already have no problem trying to destroy our own species, imagine adding a hundred more different species to rival mankind. Last but not least…what do we eat?
I may not be right but that’s just my theory according to my limited capacity to understand things.
God Bless,
GuyNextDoor
J
JakeAugustine
Guest
Lets start by comparing a rock to a squirrel. Both have matter and form thus I believe we can agree that they both have existence, esse. What differentiates the two than? Because it is logical to assume that the rock is an inanimate object while the squirrel is an animate object we can say that there must be some difference in the the nature of the two objects described. The squirrel meets the criteria for a living, biological organism. The squirrel; has a level of complex organization in itself, has the ability to exchange energy with the environment, has the ability to respond to external stimuli, has the ability to grow, has the ability to reproduce, and has the ability to evolve. Thus the biologist would say the squirrel is a living organism. Does the rock have any of these traits?! Depending on how much you know about quantum mechanics you can say that a rock might have a couple of these characteristics. However the rock does not have the ALL of the six characteristics described above thus it is an inanimate object. I believe the early philosophers recognized this and understood that there must be a difference between the squirrel and the rock. The philosophers were able to reduce these differences to the presence of a soul. The squirrel has a soul, albeit irrational, while the rock does not have a soul.
N
Neoplatonist
Guest
But if rationality is the mark of the soul’s immateriality, and, hence, it’s indestructibility, why would the Catholic position not show progress as our research on the rational capacities of animals has progressed?
R
RosslynV
Guest
hard to say this guy will make it!
The shark gets a bad rap undeservably. It is acting out of instinct and doing what nature intended. They are magnificent creatures and deserve to be in Heaven with Rex the dog!
F
Flagstone
Guest
I don’t think there are animals in Heaven but I think some people may be missing something. Only people’s souls are in Heaven. Ultimately people are to be reunited with their resurrected bodies when there is a new Heaven and a new Earth. Why would there not be animals and plants on this new Earth? It seems it would be pretty barren without them. The physical world is a fallen world but not because it is physical.God created the physical world including animals and plants because they were good. Why would He allow them to be destroyed forever because of the fall of the angels?
A
Aloysium
Guest
What do you understand to be the meaning of “rationality”?
In what manner do animals know truth, beauty and goodness?
N
Neoplatonist
Guest
I’m hard-pressed to construct a definition of rationality such that a 6-month-old child or a person in a vegetative coma possesses it but a dolphin or a dog does not. The same is true of an awareness of truth or beauty.
Does not a dog who risks life and limb over-riding instinct to rescue an owner from a burning house count as a sense of goodness?
Even then, though, can we not allow that they could have such things to a lesser degree, in the same way we have those things to far lesser degree than the angels?
A
Aloysium
Guest
I have not thought it all out, but the reason you are talking about, I would understand as a manifestation of our being physical creatures. These words could disappear from my mind in an instance, with a simple occlusion of an artery. It would make me no less human, just unable to express who I am in this world. The reason my soul possesses would remain.
Animals are of another order as you state, as far below us in terms of reason as we are to the angels. However, we may be said to be higher to angels, not only because the Word chose to become one of us, but because we also feel.
IMHO, loyal Fido would deserve our praise for his faithfulness, but he would be unable to understand his actions. I would guess that he likely might feel relief that his master is saved and happy at the attention and praise.
- Status