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All Animals Go To Heaven, Says Pope Francis
The Dodo ^ | December 08, 2014 | Stephen Messenger

Posted on 12/11/2014 7:59:05 AM PST by Slings and Arrows

In his weekly address at the Vatican late last month, Pope Francis issued a remarkable statement that’s sure to come as welcome news to anyone who’s ever lost a beloved pet. According to Francis, the promise of an afterlife applies not only to believers, but to all animals as well.

"The Holy Scriptures teach us that the realization of this wonderful plan covers all that is around us, and that came out of the thought and the heart of God," Pope Francis said, as quoted by Italian news site Resapubblica.

The Pope then went on to say that “heaven is open to all creatures, and there [they] will be vested with the joy and love of God, without limits.”

Pope Francis’s stance on animals stands in contrast to that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who despite reportedly being a cat lover, said that animals’ existence was limited to their time on Earth. But Francis isn’t the first pontiff to take an animal-friendly approach to ideology. As newspaper Divisione la Repubblica notes, Pope John Paul II held a similar position, saying animals had a “divine breath.”

This isn’t the first time that Francis, who adopted his papal name in honor of the patron saint of animals, St. Francis of Assisi, has spoken out on behalf of nonhumans. In his first homily as pope, Francis articulated mankind’s role in serving not only the divine, but in all creatures born from it:

“The vocation of being a ‘protector,’ however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as St. Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live."


TOPICS: Pets/Animals; Religion
KEYWORDS: animals; cat; catholic; dog; kittyping; pope; popefrancis; religion
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To: Brother Cracker

Definitely an angel.


201 posted on 12/13/2014 10:57:36 AM PST by Slings and Arrows ("I Only Love You When I'm Drunk" - http://youtu.be/uT-tCbvfDUg)
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To: Friendofgeorge; Slings and Arrows
The Bible is focused on the salvation of man, the only reason that it is not covered in depth.

Out of all of His creation, only man needs a book of instructions. ;-)

202 posted on 12/13/2014 11:31:41 AM PST by uglybiker (nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-BATMAN!)
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To: ravenwolf

I’ve got an in: If go to hell, it will make my furbabies unhappy.


203 posted on 12/13/2014 11:41:56 AM PST by Slings and Arrows ("I Only Love You When I'm Drunk" - http://youtu.be/uT-tCbvfDUg)
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To: Slings and Arrows

I’ve got an in: If go to hell, it will make my furbabies unhappy.


Probably make you unhappy also..


204 posted on 12/13/2014 12:13:22 PM PST by ravenwolf (` Does the scripture explain it in full detail? if not how can you?)
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To: Slings and Arrows

Another case of giving the people what they want.


205 posted on 12/13/2014 12:16:56 PM PST by DungeonMaster (No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.)
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To: Resolute Conservative
"...Scripture reference? As much as I’d like to think so I haven’t read anything that suggests this is true."

A lack of scriptural foundation will never stop a good Catholic... but wait...

...there's more!

Scripture does tell us that, at The Judgement, all animals will be asked if they have ever killed a man. This not only implies that an affirmative answer would likely result in some form of nasty consequence for the killer, the completion of that position demands that there be an opposite (or at least different...) result for animals who obeyed God's command not to kill men.

i.e., Heaven.

IMHO

206 posted on 12/15/2014 12:46:54 PM PST by Gargantua ("...Fee tine a mady..." ;^)
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To: null and void

It has to be true, Heaven won’t be Heaven without our precious faithful furry friends.


207 posted on 12/17/2014 10:15:57 AM PST by Fawn ("My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6)
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To: Psalm 73; Resolute Conservative

Someone posted at least 20 references in the Bible that leave it open that the beasts go to Heaven. I should of kept that. Also, the Bible doesn’t say they don’t go to Heaven.


208 posted on 12/17/2014 10:17:52 AM PST by Fawn ("My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" Hosea 4:6)
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To: Fawn
"Also, the Bible doesn’t say they don’t go to Heaven."

I'm going with that.

209 posted on 12/17/2014 11:25:42 AM PST by Psalm 73 ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room".)
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To: FBD
I'm guessing animal heaven is right out there with those enchanted hydrogen gas castles & giant space serpents.
-because people so want to believe in imaginary worlds. :-/

http://www.spacetelescope.org/static/archives/images/screen/opo9544a.jpg

210 posted on 12/17/2014 6:55:29 PM PST by FBD
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To: defconw

I am a GOD fearing man, but if there ain’t no dogs in heaven I ain’t goin.


211 posted on 12/20/2014 7:41:46 PM PST by 5th MEB (Progressives in the open; --- FIRE FOR EFFECT!!)
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To: 5th MEB

:) I am sharing the couch with a dog I hope goes to Heaven.


212 posted on 12/21/2014 4:25:53 AM PST by defconw (If not now, WHEN?)
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