(RNS) — The Rev. Terry Martin had served large, busy Catholic parishes in the United Kingdom for 25 years before sensing that he had reached burnout. “I was frankly running on empty,” he said when he and I talked recently. Granted a year’s sabbatical from his diocesan bishop, Martin lived for 12 months on the edge of the Sussex Downs, southeastern England’s grasslands set on rolling chalk hills. He took to walking his dogs daily, covering miles and miles, often, he said, in the pouring rain. The timeout gave him opportunities, he said, to pray, think and write.
Born out of that experience was “Animals in Heaven?: A Catholic Pastoral Response to Questions About Animals,” a book that examines Christianity’s concept of creation and how animals fit into it. I talked with Father Martin about his book, factory farming and whether indeed we can expect to meet animals in heaven.
Some may find it strange for a Catholic priest to write about animals. How did this come to be?
I have had my own experiences of suffering in silence for years, and I have come to understand that that has given me a real heart for noticing, and empathizing with, the billions of animals across the face of the planet who, too, are voiceless and treated so cruelly by humans. I decided that I needed to be a louder, clearer, more outspoken advocate for them.
OK, let’s cut to the chase: Do animals go to heaven?
The church does not provide clear guidance about whether animals do — or don’t — go to heaven. I gently suggest in the book that since the time of the great medieval philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas the conversation around animals and their purpose on earth has been heavily biased by his firmly scholastic view. I would never wish to reject that teaching, revered as it is, but I do reflect on whether there are other good ways of looking at the question.
I conclude, faithful to the teaching of the church, that we cannot say for sure whether there are animals in heaven, but that it is surely a very real possibility. The God who created the animals creates all that is and loves all that he has created. Maybe that love could extend to granting animals a place in heaven. I do not see that as a bald impossibility.
But my book is strictly pastoral in tone: I am not an academic theologian and I place all of these questions within the context of my pastoral ministry as a parish priest. The many true anecdotes and memories I shared help to root the suggestions I raise within the reality of ordinary people’s lives.
I’ve argued that factory farming of animals, not least due to the myriad evils it produces, is one of the most serious structures of sin we can confront. Do I go too far in saying this?
I wholeheartedly agree with your comment and would further suggest that more Catholics and Christians should be saying exactly this — and saying it loudly and often. Christians still, pretty universally, fail to see animals for the God-created, sentient beings that they are and blindly, instead, see them for what humans can get from them. I suggest that we can’t view animals as beings with divine favor and yet still eat them! If they are loved into being by God, how can we act so callously towards them? I strongly believe too that God is deeply offended by our lack of compassion in this respect, and that the lone voices need to speak out often, confronting that thoughtless and unfeeling attitude.
Among the evils associated with factory farms is the role they play in climate change. Yet it gets little attention compared to other sources and causes. Why would that be?
This truth probably gets so little attention and thought because we human beings focus, more than anything else, on our stomachs! I have observed that it is extremely hard for folk to change either their diet or their other habits — around clothing and leisure, for example — and that they will give massive bias to what they like rather than to what they could more ethically achieve.
Animal agriculture is contributing massively to the destruction of the planet, all because folk, many of them Christians, will not consider something as simple and straightforward as reflecting in a new way on their dietary practice. A meat-free, dairy-free diet is healthy and nourishing and is obviously kinder too — both to the animals and to the planet.
The Catholic catechism teaches that “we owe animals kindness.” What does that mean, practically speaking, for how Catholics should live their lives?
For me, that passage speaks clearly to our Christian responsibility as stewards, entrusted with dominion, to care for the planet and for all other beings with whom we are privileged to share God’s beautiful, extraordinary creation. I suggest in the book that the very existence of animals is a sign of God’s continuing love and care for the world. If we humans, made in his image, become our best selves when we model the Son of God, we must show kindness to animals, to each other, and to the planet. This is not merely a nice idea, but a fundamental Christian imperative!
Practically speaking, Christians could think more carefully about reducing the suffering of animals by becoming vegan and by sparing a thought for the horrific conditions and extreme harm that so many animals endure for human pleasure.
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