Thinking about leaving Catholic Church

[dcasarrubias]

I am really considering leaving the Catholic Church. I believe most things the Church teaches but I don’t believe what the Church says about pets not going to heaven and I don’t want to go against my beliefs. Can anyone give me some advice? Do all Catholics believe that pets don’t go to heaven? I have been really down lately because Catholics keep telling me that pets don’t go to heaven, since I lost a cat recently, so this is really driving me away from the Catholic Church.

If there were animals in the Garden of Eden which was heaven, why can’t animals be in heaven?

 

[johnnyc176]

I am really considering leaving the Catholic Church. I believe most things the Church teaches but I don’t believe what the Church says about pets not going to heaven and I don’t want to go against my beliefs. Can anyone give me some advice? Do all Catholics believe that pets don’t go to heaven? I have been really down lately because Catholics keep telling me that pets don’t go to heaven, since I lost a cat recently, so this is really driving me away from the Catholic Church.

If there were animals in the Garden of Eden which was heaven, why can’t animals be in heaven?

Something to think about…

ewtn.com/expert/answers/pets_in_heaven.htm

 

[Celtic_Maiden]

Because the Church says Animals don’t have a Soul, obedience is better than sacrifice.

I am sure God in his wisdom knows where they go, you and I know they don’t go to Heaven don’t know of any religion that believes animals go to heaven, at the best they don’t know. Are you saying that you are questioning God and his laws, please be bigger than that, so your leaving the Catholic Church because it teaches pets don’t go to heaven, maybe someone else might leave because of this, that and the other, then like all the other 40000 Protestant denominations you should make up your own, not that Our Lord has given you any mandate for doing so.

Wake up and smell the coffee, please.

 

[SnowAngels]

To my understanding, there are animals in heaven; however, our pets don’t go to heaven because they do not have a soul. I know it might be hard to think about being happy without your beloved pet by your side, but in heaven God will fill you completely with love and happiness.

 

[dcasarrubias]

Because the Church says Animals don’t have a Soul, obedience is better than sacrifice.

I am sure God in his wisdom knows where they go, you and I know they don’t go to Heaven don’t know of any religion that believes animals go to heaven, at the best they don’t know. Are you saying that you are questioning God and his laws, please be bigger than that, so your leaving the Catholic Church because it teaches pets don’t go to heaven, maybe someone else might leave because of this, that and the other, then like all the other 40000 Protestant denominations you should make up your own, not that Our Lord has given you any mandate for doing so.

Wake up and smell the coffee, please.

I have talked to many Pastors that tell me that all of GOD’s creations including animals go to heaven.

 

[Corki]

I am really considering leaving the Catholic Church. I believe most things the Church teaches but I don’t believe what the Church says about pets not going to heaven and I don’t want to go against my beliefs. Can anyone give me some advice? Do all Catholics believe that pets don’t go to heaven? I have been really down lately because Catholics keep telling me that pets don’t go to heaven, since I lost a cat recently, so this is really driving me away from the Catholic Church.

If there were animals in the Garden of Eden which was heaven, why can’t animals be in heaven?

Nobody said there aren’t animals in Heaven. But animals don’t GO to heaven. They don’t have immortal souls. Nor are they capable of sin. If an animal could go to heaven, it could also go to Hell, which is impossible without sin.

P.S. - Are you a very young person? This is a very odd reason to leave the Church and sounds a bit like a RE class discussion.

 

[marlap2]

Consider this,

You will forsake over 2,000 years of Church teaching, the Magisterium, Scripture and Tradition, the company of the Saints in Heaven, the intercession of our Blessed Mother, and most of all, the union with Jesus, present in the Eucharist, because a protestant pastor agrees with you about a pet going to heaven?

I would really pray about this before I let my emotions draw me away from truth. I know how much you miss your little buddy. I’ve lost many animal friends in my lifetime, and loved them all. You have my prayers that our Lord will console you in your loss.

 

[dcasarrubias]

Nobody said there aren’t animals in Heaven. But animals don’t GO to heaven. They don’t have immortal souls. Nor are they capable of sin. If an animal could go to heaven, it could also go to Hell, which is impossible without sin.

P.S. - Are you a very young person? This is a very odd reason to leave the Church and sounds a bit like a RE class discussion.

No I am not young, but I just can’t follow a church that I don’t share beliefs with, while there are many other Churches that teach that all of GOD’s creations including pets go to heaven.

 

[gmanlq]

I am really considering leaving the Catholic Church. I believe most things the Church teaches but I don’t believe what the Church says about pets not going to heaven and I don’t want to go against my beliefs. Can anyone give me some advice? Do all Catholics believe that pets don’t go to heaven? I have been really down lately because Catholics keep telling me that pets don’t go to heaven, since I lost a cat recently, so this is really driving me away from the Catholic Church.

If there were animals in the Garden of Eden which was heaven, why can’t animals be in heaven?

For your eternal destination you may want to look at Matthew 10:37-39. Don’t put your pet before Jesus.

 

[MarianCatholic]

I am really considering leaving the Catholic Church. I believe most things the Church teaches but I don’t believe what the Church says about pets not going to heaven and I don’t want to go against my beliefs. Can anyone give me some advice? Do all Catholics believe that pets don’t go to heaven? I have been really down lately because Catholics keep telling me that pets don’t go to heaven, since I lost a cat recently, so this is really driving me away from the Catholic Church.

If there were animals in the Garden of Eden which was heaven, why can’t animals be in heaven?

You believe most things the church teaches, but not all?
That way of thinking reminds me a lot about how Protestants think of their faith/ the bible.
They put themselves in a position to throw away everything they dont like and keep the things they do like.
As Catholics we are required to believe what the church teaches/ dogma if we do not we cant be sincere when refering to ourselves as Catholics.

To the second part of your post.
Do you really mean that youre willing to abandon your faith and eternal happiness becouse of a cat?
How will leaving the Church change anything regarding your cats “salvation”?
The church speaks the truth regardless of you leaving or not.

It seems to me that youre battling bigger troubles regarding your faith than your cats salvation.
The way that I see it, you have to make a choice at some point or another wether or not youre going to stay Catholic.
If you choose to keep your Catholic faith (witch I hope you do) youre going to believe the Dogma of the church.

Good luck in your truth journey.
I hope it ends well.

May Mama Mary be near you in this moment of doubt and misdirection and lead you ever closer to her son Our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Yours in Jesus and Mary
  MarianCatholic

 

[dcasarrubias]

Nobody said there aren’t animals in Heaven. But animals don’t GO to heaven. They don’t have immortal souls. Nor are they capable of sin. If an animal could go to heaven, it could also go to Hell, which is impossible without sin.

P.S. - Are you a very young person? This is a very odd reason to leave the Church and sounds a bit like a RE class discussion.

How can heaven be heaven without everything and everyone that you ever love? I have talked to many priests and I have come out more confused than before. Some priests tell me that all of God’s creatures will go to heaven and they show me passages in the bible that support that claim, while other priests tell me the complete opposite, and I noticed that the bible is not clear on this either.

 

[cheezey]

To my understanding, **there are animals in heaven; however, our pets don’t go to heaven **because they do not have a soul. I know it might be hard to think about being happy without your beloved pet by your side, but in heaven God will fill you completely with love and happiness.

Where is the distintion?
Asked in earnest!

 

[SnowAngels]

How can heaven be heaven without everything and everyone that you ever love? I have talked to many priests and I have come out more confused than before. Some priests tell me that all of God’s creatures will go to heaven and they show me passages in the bible that support that claim, while other priests tell me the complete opposite, and I noticed that the bible is not clear on this either.

Heaven doesn’t have to have our pets because God IS love. Since He is love, our love capacity will be filled to the brim with love for God. It will be perfect. In other words, we won’t miss our pets because because our love will be totally perfected and focused on God. Again, there will be animals in heaven, but as another poster said, animals don’t GO to heaven.

 

[Peter_Plato]

I have talked to many Pastors that tell me that all of GOD’s creations including animals go to heaven.

I am a tad confused by your reasoning here.

What the Pastors think about animals in Heaven will NOT make it so.
That the Catholic Church teaches something is NOT what makes it so.
Your wish that something will be true will not make it so.

What God has determined IS what will come about.

I don’t think there is any definitive Church teaching about animals in Heaven.

CS Lewis gives a compelling reason why there could very well be. (I’ll have to find the source.)

Church teaching, I believe, is that animals, unlike human beings who do have an immortal soul, are inherently “mortal.” That does not mean God is constrained in some way. If God decides some, any or all animals will be in Heaven, then they will be.

The Noah’s Ark story does imply something about God’s affinity to animals and Jesus said not a sparrow falls from the sky without God knowing it.

God has a far better handle on things than we do.

A story that might put things into perspective…

A little girl named Ruthie, around 4 years old, saw a plastic pearl necklace in a store display and thought it was so beautiful she had to have it. Ruthie brought her savings with her next time she went to the store with her mom and spent all of $2.25 on the necklace.

Ruthie loved the necklace and wore it everyday, everywhere she went. Her mother had to move it aside to wash her neck during her bath. Ruthie must have worn that necklace for 3 months straight.

One night, the little girl’s father was tucking her into bed. “I love you, Ruthie,” he said. “Do you love me?”
“Oh yes, Daddy, I love you!”
“Would you give me your pearls?” he asked.
“Oh no, Daddy, I can’t give you my pearls. I would give you my doll house and everything in it,” Ruthie cried.
“That’s OK, Ruthie. Goodnight and sleep well,” he said as he turned out the light.

Over the next few weeks, Ruthie’s father asked the same questions several times – Do you love me? Will you give me your pearls? – with the same answer. Ruthie would gladly give anything except the pearls to show her love for her father.

One night Ruthie was waiting on her father with a sad expression. Before he could ask why she was sad, she caught his hand and put her necklace in it. “I love you so much, Daddy. You can have my pearls.”

Her father hugged her with tears in his eyes. Then he said, “I love you, too, Ruthie, and I want you to have this.” He pulled a long slender jewelry box from his pocket. When Ruthie opened it, her eyes opened wide. Inside was a real pearl necklace for her very own.

 

[SnowAngels]

Where is the distintion?
Asked in earnest!

I believe that the teaching is that animals will be in heaven but our pets specifically won’t be in heaven, as they do not have eternal souls. So, there will be dogs in heaven, but the dog that I have sitting next to me will not be in heaven.

 

[Corki]

How can heaven be heaven without everything and everyone that you ever love? I have talked to many priests and I have come out more confused than before. Some priests tell me that all of God’s creatures will go to heaven and they show me passages in the bible that support that claim, while other priests tell me the complete opposite, and I noticed that the bible is not clear on this either.

IF you are in Heaven, you will be 100% happy. Maybe that means that you will *experience *that though other people or animals. I too have heard priests say that if you need to be around a pet to be happy, God will make that happen.

What I believe is that the presence of God almighty will be the source of all happiness and that there will not be anything else on your mind.

Since what happens in Heaven is not revealed, no one can say for sure - not even the “pastors” you have spoken to in other denominations.

I think it seems like there is more to this story. I don’t believe that you would dump the Catholic Church because she doesn’t teach that your cat is in Heaven but you are willing to give up everything else (the Sacraments, the Eucharist, the Body of Christ).

 

[dcasarrubias]

I am a tad confused by your reasoning here.

What the Pastors think about animals in Heaven will NOT make it so.
That the Catholic Church teaches something is NOT what makes it so.
Your wish that something will be true will not make it so.

What God has determined IS what will come about.

I don’t think there is any definitive Church teaching about animals in Heaven.

CS Lewis gives a compelling reason why there could very well be. (I’ll have to find the source.)

Church teaching, I believe, is that animals, unlike human beings who do have an immortal soul, are inherently “mortal.” That does not mean God is constrained in some way. If God decides some, any or all animals will be in Heaven, then they will be.

The Noah’s Ark story does imply something about God’s affinity to animals and Jesus said not a sparrow falls from the sky without God knowing it.

God has a far better handle on things than we do.

A story that might put things into perspective…

Thanks, your right, no Church knows whether or not animals go to heaven, only GOD knows, and hopefully my cat will be in heaven.

 

[SnowAngels]

How can heaven be heaven without everything and everyone that you ever love? I have talked to many priests and I have come out more confused than before. Some priests tell me that all of God’s creatures will go to heaven and they show me passages in the bible that support that claim, while other priests tell me the complete opposite, and I noticed that the bible is not clear on this either.

Out of curiosity, what are your feelings on your loved possibly being in Hell for eternity and you being in Heaven? Do you believe that you could still be perfectly happy without all your loved ones by your side? The reason I ask is because it seems your reasoning is along the same lines.

 

[JoyfulRC]

I don’t think there is an “official” declaration by the Church about this. There has been a good amount of thinking and exploration, and the link to the answer on EWTN summarizes it, but it is my understanding that we don’t know for sure, therefore, the Church has not made any pronouncement about it. Lots of people say our pets don’t get to go to heaven, and the arguments they make seem logical, but there is no definitive position taken on this by the Church. That means that if we want to, we are free to believe that our pets do go to heaven. No need to go in search of another church.

We went through a few terrible months as one cat after another had to be put to sleep due to feline leukemia. I visualized each one in the arms of Jesus, looking happy and healthy and content before jumping down to play with the other cats who were joining him or her. It helped me. I will pray that you will be comforted in your time of grief and that your sorrow will not overwhelm you.

 

[cheezey]

Where did the animals in heaven come from?
Again, earnest!