thank you. is this belief, that animals’ souls perish permanently upon their physical deaths, an established catholic doctrinal belief? also, do you or any other reader of this thread know if there is any scriptural evidence (especially any evidence from the teachings of our lord and savior, jesus christ) for such a belief?
i do know that it is a common protestant belief here in the united states that animal spirits and/or souls return to the earth upon the animals’ physical deaths. this information i provide just as an aside.
my two deep personal misgivings over this matter are these, and i hope the holy church can profit intellectually from these considerations: one, animal “spirits”, should they bear semblance to human “spirits” and truly exist, may be recycled or resurrected, etc, in any way imaginable by the almighty (i believe we ought not to assume anything other than that his power is infinite and that therefore he can do anything he wants to do with those animals of earth whom he loves); and two, many atheists and agnostics and others of other faiths and belief systems who subscribe to the growing secular beliefs of today (all of which are increasingly attached to the philosophy of scientific atheism, taught openly or implicitly at nearly all major american research universities) could be reached more effectively (in my opinion, at least, but i concede that i may or may not be correct on this matter) if the church could syncretize some of their popular and secular beliefs with the teachings of christ.
you see, i came to christianity by way of the father’s grace and intervention in my intellectual, moral and spiritual life and through realization that the teachings of jesus were truly infallible and had to be, according to my rational thought during conversion, divinely inspired. later, i learned that miracles are real and that there is overwhelming evidence for them, as well as that our lady of fatima really did occur, etc. after a few years of learning more and more about the christian faith and about roman catholicism in general, i conceded ultimately to god and now i long to serve him and him alone perpetually, even in the afterlife. that is my true goal: to love god and to serve him with all of my spirit and power and abilities for eternity.
i hope very much that this and any other posts i present here at catholic answers forum serve to further the goals of the holy spirit father and his son, and i hope that i never dissuade any good catholic soul from ever sticking to the holy doctrines and laws of god’s most holy, knowledgeable and powerful faith and church. please forgive me, if ever it seems i present any challenge to the church which might affect it negatively, and please know that the lord god almighty wishes only for me to be able to find truth where i need it as i continue to serve him, both here on earth and in the afterlife.
with much love
whitecrayon
