All Donkeys Go To Heaven...says Pope Francis

[Catherine]

I came across this article, but I can't get it to post so I will copy the key points.

Quote:'All donkeys go to heaven' Pope says the Kingdom of Heaven is open to ALL God's creatures

POPE Francis has received an unusual early Christmas present of two donkeys, following his declaration that animals do, after all, go to heaven.

Published: 15:06, Fri, December 5, 2014
By Hannah Roberts for the Express


The pope addressing the crowd at The VaticanGETTY

Pope Francis addresses his weekly audience


In his weekly audience in St Peter’s Francis quoted the apostle Paul who comforted a child who was crying after his dog died.

“One day we will see our animals again in eternity of Christ’, Francis quoted Paul as saying. The Pope added: “Paradise is open to all God’s creatures.”

His position is markedly different from that of Pope Benedict XVI said that the other animals ‘are not called to the eternal life’.

This week the pope was presented with the two donkeys, named Thea and Noah, by a company that produces donkey milk for babies that are allergic to other milks.

After thanking him for the curious gift, a delighted Francis revealed that he too as a baby was fed donkey milk, Pierluigi Christophe Orunesu, of donkey farming cooperative Eurolactis Italia, claimed.




Paradise is open to all God’s creatures

The Pope


Mr Orunesu said the pope was ‘very happy. “I told him he will have two friends for life,” he told Dairy Reporter website.

“Pope Francis told me today in front of media that his mother regularly gave him donkey’s milk where she could not provide enough breast milk or later on when he was a child,” he said.

The company also donated 21 gallons of donkey’s milk to the pediatric hospital in Rome.

At the service in St Peter’s Square the Pope also met and blessed rescue dogs.

The donkeys will now go to live at the pope’s farm at the papal summer palace of Castel Gandolfo 30 miles outside Rome.

I have two reasons for posting this.

1) This is the first time I have ever come across a major religious leader expressing such a sentiment about animals. It is an important message. If you believe that animals go to heaven, what does that say about fur farming and many of the other things we discuss.

2)I am Catholic and maybe I am not the only Catholic who respects animals and sees that they are more not less in the eyes of the creator.

If I can get any of the articles to post I will.

[Cibach]

I find it hard to believe that there could be any doubt that animals go to heaven. I've always believed it. How sad to think that there will be only humans there. The prospect of seeing all our "beasties" again is very appealing and makes their passing just a phase in the process and not the end.

[LPC]

Well said, Cibach! I agree totally with you. Catherine, as you know I don't subscribe to any organised religion, but this announcement is very important in terms of how Catholics view animals. So I have found three websites reporting this story. I will give them all, although they are very similar, in case there is a problem with the links, as Catherine reported above:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/544...as-present
and
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...stmas.html
and
http://www.inquisitr.com/1657599/pope-fr...to-heaven/

I do not know where Pope Francis got the story of Paul comforting a small boy, crying after the passing of his dog. In my mis-spent youth (well, that's how I describe it these days, LOL) I studied Theology and there is no such account in the New Testament nor in any other traditional source that I know. But I'm not going to quibble. Pope Francis' heart is in the right place.

I hope that this announcement by the new Pope will cause those Catholics who disregarded animal welfare to change their views.

It is the ultimate human ego-trip to suppose that we are so special, and other animals so unimportant, that we humans are the only ones to have eternal souls. All animals, human or otherwise, have equal status and possess the life force of the Universe. We all pass, without exceptions or "ifs" or "buts" to the astral.

I'm glad that you found this piece of news, Catherine. I will be updating my website to include this latest development in the Catholic viewpoint, on my "Views of world religions" page.

[Tobi]

What Pope Francis says is very important. There are many, many Catholics in the world, and he is like a Father to the devout. They will listen to what he says.

He is so right by the way (my dog taught me those things!) It makes me wonder if perhaps he has had his own personal experiences? Maybe....

I too, have no recollection of St. Paul encountering a child who was grieving for their dog. Not in the Bible, anyway...But I haven't read the Gnostic texts/Apocrypha fully, and wonder if there could be something mentioned there? I don't know.
Never mind, Pope Francis puts the message across nevertheless.

By the way -a bit off-topic, but there is mention in the Holy Qu'uran of the Prophet Mohammed encountering a prostitute at a well. The woman was giving water to a thirsty dog. He saw this deed of compassion and told her Allah would forgive her sins for her kindness towards an animal.

Much to think about for many people there......

Catherine, would you mind if I quote what you have written, and/or the sources at least, for another forum I belong to, a spiritual forum? I can re-phrase it if you prefer.

[Catherine]

Tobi, quote anything you want. Once I put something online I recognize that it can be reposted anywhere.

LPC, those are the articles I found, but I was unable to post them. They wouldn't give me an URL. I have had this problem before with some articles, but I haven't figured out the cause.

I think we are right to see this as important. I studied Theology and this is a serious change of direction from classical thinking.(keep in mind that women were not always seen as fully human). I think this comes right from the heart. This is what Pope Francis personally believes and he seems to be a very real person, very much in touch with life as it is lived by real people.

I can't wait to see what comes from this. It is going to stir things up. He seems to be moving things in a direction of compassion, acceptance and inclusiveness. That does have implications for the way we treat animals. Maybe it will become clear that factory farming should be redefined as a serious sin against life.

Quote:I find it hard to believe that there could be any doubt that animals go to heaven. I've always believed it. How sad to think that there will be only humans there. The prospect of seeing all our "beasties" again is very appealing and makes their passing just a phase in the process and not the end.

Is it really heaven if we are not all there? Animal companions make our live so rich, why would we think of them as just objects, like a piece of furniture. I have watched my beloved pets die and I see the light leave their eyes. It is not like turning off a lamp. Something real leaves and what is left behind is different. Those of us with animals know this. It seems that Pope Francis knows this.

I have never heard the St Paul story. I have read all his letters, but maybe it is in another document or maybe it was passed on as a story. It wouldn't have been taught in Theology class because it didn't fit what they wanted to teach us.

I am glad you all see this as important. It was late at night when I came across it and my reaction was "Wow, what's this". I just wasn't sure if everyone else could see that this is a big change in thinking from the leader of a church of a billion people. It could really help animals everywhere. It give Catholics "permission" to care about their pets.

[LPC]

I have updated my world religions page to take account of this important development. I also joined a Catholic forum (which allows non-Catholics to post) and no-one knew about this declaration there. So congratulations, Catherine, yours is maybe the first forum to discuss it!

[Catherine]

I know the Pope was just speaking and giving his opinion, but it is a radically different view from what I learned in Theology class.

I couldn't believe it when I was reading it. I wondered if I would get up in the morning and find out that I had misread the article.

I hope this opens up a lot of dialogue. If you believe that animals go to heaven then you have to see animal abuse in a different light. It calls into question our whole treatment of farm animals. The Pope wouldn't have said it if he didn't believe it and if this is what he believes it will guide the decisions he makes. Pope Francis is a sensitive and gentle man, but he is also a Jesuit and an intellectual. He chose the name Francis and St Francis is the patron saint of animals. He could be a powerful influence for good. I have hopes.

[LPC]

I agree. He is a kind, compassionate man. Many decades ago, Catholic clergy often denied that animals had souls. Then, in 1990, after Pope John Paul II said that that they did have souls, the diehards changed their tack and admitted that animals did have souls, but they ceased to exist upon physical death.

But this latest declaration is a landmark. On the Catholic forum I have joined (as a non-Catholic), no-one had seen the articles until I mentioned them. It will take months, maybe years, for this to filter through, but it is still great news in terms of how Catholics will view animals and their rights to life and liberty.

BTW Catherine, I have done more research and it seems that this forum was the indeed the first to discuss this piece of news. It has not appeared on any animal forums or Catholic forums previous to your first post - to the best of my knowledge; if anyone finds otherwise I will readily retract.

[Catherine]

Well then, I am proud of us that we were the first to discuss this. I think it is important.
I glanced at the article about the Pope and recognized that it is important for animals. I look at a wide range of news articles because I like to know what is going on. Sometimes a pro-animal article is under an unexpected tittle.
Catholic groups might have missed it because it was about animals and not directly listed as a religious article. My eclectic mind gave us a head start.

I had not heard that John Paul 2 had declared that animals had souls.
He was another intelligent and compassionate man.
Doesn't it distort the definition of soul to say it ends with death? If you believe that there is a soul, then you should also believe that it lives on after the body dies.
I think we try to define these things too precisely when we do not have evidence that allows us to define them. What we do know is that we and our animal friends are more than just the body and something does live on.

I have hoped that we would be reunited with our animal friends. It is comforting to know that someone like Pope Francis agrees with us.
Heaven is going to be a busy place and a lot of fun.

[LPC]

Yes, you will be covered in grateful piggies, that's for sure!