ArcaMax

Q: Dear Rabbi Gellman, Catholicism holds "animals have mortal souls that perish when the body dies" – therefore, animal souls don't go to heaven.

Humans have immortal souls and those souls (if good) live on in Heaven. Hopefully, when my time comes, I will be welcomed into Heaven. I hope to be reunited with my parents and those that I loved. Also, I hope to be reunited with my dogs that I loved dearly – they were my family.

The Catholic definition of Heaven is "pure communion with God and supreme happiness." If the souls of my sweet dogs don't go to Heaven and we won't be reunited, then Heaven won't be the paradise God promised.

This seems a contradiction. Also, to make it even more confusing, some popes (e.g. Pope Pius IX, Pope Benedict XVI) have declared animals "soulless" – therefore, they don't go to Heaven. Pope Francis has suggested they do. I'd appreciate your opinion. Thank you. – (From J)

A: Dear J, thank you for your dog-loving soul. I join with you, and many of my readers who are driven by this question. Let me try to summarize the best arguments for and against the belief that our pets will meet us in Heaven.

Here is the best argument that pets have mortal souls that die with them when their body dies.

Steaks and chicken McNuggets. The simple reason that we do not eat human beings but do eat animals is because we do not consider animals to be the bearers of human rights. If animals had souls, then eating them would be just as morally offensive as eating people. So if you do believe that your doggies will be jumping on you when you pass the pearly gates you ought to become a vegetarian immediately. That way you can honor your beliefs. I understand that many carnivores eat cows and chickens but will not eat dogs, but ultimately if dogs have souls then so do other animals. They show love and they feel pain which are two important elements in all ensouled creatures.

Here is the best argument that pets have souls and do enter Heaven after the death of their bodies.

Miles sleeping on my feet. One of my many dogs was a gorgeous and loving Weimaraner named Miles. Miles loved me with the kind of unconditional love only dog lovers can truly appreciate. When I left the house Miles would gather up and make a pile of my old clothes he could reach and then plop down on them until I returned. When we were together Miles would crawl under my desk and fall asleep on my feet. If you told me that Miles was really a person in a dog suit I would have believed you. Miles eventually died in my arms (I wrote “The Death of Miles” to recount and justify my grief). If an animal can love unconditionally and feel the pain and joy of life, it seems obvious to me that such love is the mark of a soul, and if it is a soul it does not have to be a soul that is made in the image of God as we believe ours to be. It can be an animal soul. Higher than plants and lower than us. Such souls deserve a place in Heaven.

Believing that dogs go to Heaven does not resolve all the issues here. What about cats who often do not evince the kind of snuggly love we feel from our doggies? And what about “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my”? Are predatory wild animals admitted through some caged-in doors? And also, what about snakes and other creepy crawlers? Must an animal have big soft eyes and fluffy fur to punch their ticket to Heaven?

Because I am in sales not management, I do not know how God runs Heaven. What I do know is that the love we share with our pets is real and deep and healing. What I do know is that how we treat them is the surest sign of how we treat each other.

I was moved by the choice of Pope Francis in taking the name of St. Francis, the saint who was drawn to the lives and love of the animal world. His gentle grace was a reminder that God’s love is so abundant it touches every living soul in this world and God willing also in the next.

As for me, I await Miles.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

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