Do Animals Have Souls Catholic
Francis ching cc answers tough questions about.
Do animals have souls catholic. If they do have a soul that survives death it is different from mans. Genesis chapter 1 teaches that animals have souls. In a 1990 papal audience Pope John Paul II proclaimed that the animals possess a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren He added that animals are the fruit of the creative action of the Holy Spirit and merit respect and that they are as near to God as men are.
When Jesus returns in all His glory and all humans rise from the dead will animals and all living creatures also rise. The answer to the first question do animals have souls. Most animals have sensitive souls but human animals have rational souls.
First the Catholic Church does not teach that animals do not have souls. Animals have a mortal soul. Saint Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment.
But we do no kindness to children when they are older like 7 or 8 to not explain animals have no souls and the Church teaches only those with souls have eternal life the just and good go to heaven those who defied God go to hell. In the light of this essential difference between human beings and animals it would seem that we would not see the souls of our pets in heaven for the simple reason that they do not have immortal souls and are not responsible for their actions. In the case of animals the soul goes out of existence.
Also animals possess a soul and In this respect man created by the hand of God is identical with all other living creatures A few Catholic sites however claim that animal souls cease to exist on death and do not go to heaven -. They do not have the intelligence which allows them to choose either Gods will or their own will. Do Embryos Have Souls Making Sense Out of Bioethics March 2008.
The traditional teaching is that animals do not have an immortal soul and therefore when they die nothing remains of them. Writes a monthly column Making Sense Out of Bioethics which appears in various diocesan newspapers across the countryThis article is reprinted with permission of the author Rev. Christ died to save the souls of human beings not animals.