Correction: The quote "Paradise is open to all creatures" was mistakenly attributed to Pope Francis. It was in fact spoken by his predecessor, Pope Paul VI.
Do dogs go to heaven? If you thought this was a silly question, forget that! No sooner had the ever refreshing Pope Francis allegedly told a child who was grieving the death of his beloved dog that, “Paradise is open to all God’s creatures,” than the horses — pardon the expression — were out of the barn.
Within hours of the Pope’s comment, the PR apparatus of the beef and pork industries was doing damage control, assuring us that the Pope wasn’t saying that eating animals is a sin. The in-boxes of the Humane Society, and other animal protection groups, were jammed.
A few days later, we learned that the pet comments arrtibuted to Francis had beenuttered instead by his predecessor, Pope Paul VI. The source of the sentiment notwithstanding, the incident raised questions once again about the historic Catholic doctrine that animals don’t have souls, and are not therefore candidates for heaven?
Whatever Francis thinks about the subject — Vatican deputy spokesman Father Ciro Benedettini claimed that the pope "is in spiritual harmony with all of creation" — my hunch is that the average person was already pretty likely to feel that their golden retriever or cocker spaniel stands a far better chance of getting into heaven than a lot of the people they know. (But then I’m not so sure about Jock, the miniature fox terrier we had when I was a kid. The whole miniature thing seemed to have seriously affected the little guy. Talk about a Napoleonic complex! Jock barked and snapped at anyone handy, including the hand that fed him.)
For more on this blog By Anthony B. Robinson See the crosscut link below.... (and what is so cool about Pope Francis) |
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