Dogs in Heaven? Pope Francis Leaves Pearly Gates Open (Published 2014) (2024)

FAQs

Did the pope say dogs can go to heaven? ›

Another week, another story about Pope Francis saying something a little weird and a little cool. News reports suggested that Francis told a boy that dogs go to heaven. As it turned out, the current pope was misquoted.

Only humans, angels, and God have eternal spirits. Animals do not. Therefore, for now, when an animal dies, it is dead and there is no spirit that lives on in Heaven.

During a general audience at the Vatican, he said: “Today … we see a form of selfishness. We see that some people do not want to have a child. Sometimes they have one, and that's it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children. This may make people laugh but it is a reality.”

Pope John Paul II in 1990 appeared to reverse centuries of Roman Catholic belief when he said animals are “as near to God as men.” And Paul IV famously comforted that boy by saying, “One day we will see our animals in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God's creatures.”

Christians don't believe that "going to heaven" happens automatically; it's the result of conscious decisions made during one's life. While the Bible is very specific about the requirements for human salvation, it says nothing about salvation for animals.

It's important to note that God doesn't differentiate among species, even though it might be more convenient for some humans to believe that the dogs and cats they share their homes with—but not the chicken they just ate for dinner—will be with them in heaven.

Here's a selection of the many references to dogs in the King James Bible: Revelation 22:15: “For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and whor*mongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” Philippians 3:2: “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.”

Based on how you interpret the Bible, there's strong evidence that we will meet our former pets, but also new animals…which may talk. Now, that's an interesting thought. We believe that God will restore our beloved pets in Heaven, not because they have souls, but as gifts for our pleasure.

The souls that animals have are entirely dependent on their material makeup. As such, they do not continue to exist after bodily death as human souls do. Therefore, all animals that die before the advent of Christ's second coming will not exist in the new heaven and new earth.

Animals, too, go to heaven. That, at least, was one interpretation of remarks made by Pope Francis in his weekly general audience in the Vatican.

Why is the pope peeved about pets? ›

People who have pets instead of children, the pope said, were being selfish, exhibiting a “denial of fatherhood or motherhood” that “diminishes us, it takes away our humanity.”

"Sometimes they have one, and that's it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children. "This may make people laugh, but it is a reality." The practice "is a denial of fatherhood and motherhood and diminishes us, takes away our humanity", he added.

'Lord, I love you': Aide recounts Benedict's last words. VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's last words were “Lord, I love you,” his longtime secretary said Sunday, quoting a nurse who helped care for the 95-year-old former pontiff in his final hours.

Six hours before his death, John Paul said in Polish, “with a very weak voice and with mumbled words, 'Let me go to the house of the Father,”' the report said. The official account is quite close to one offered last month by John Paul's longtime personal secretary, now Krakow Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz.

It is actually a pretty dark story, where the dogs are similar to mobsters who are involved in gambling, extortion, and even cold blooded murder. The movie follows a dog named Charlie who had escaped from the pound, is killed by his old friend, goes to heaven, but ends up coming back to earth.

Animals, too, go to heaven. That, at least, was one interpretation of remarks made by Pope Francis in his weekly general audience in the Vatican.

The quote actually comes from Pope Paul VI.

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." -- Will Rogers | Dog heaven, Dogs, Heaven.

People who have pets instead of children, the pope said, were being selfish, exhibiting a “denial of fatherhood or motherhood” that “diminishes us, it takes away our humanity.”