Pope says animals can go to heaven

Pope Francis, comforting a boy whose dog had died, said that “One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ.  Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”

From Arden Dier,  Pope Francis says dogs can go to heaven:

Pope Francis continues to show he’s anything but traditional. During a recent public appearance, Francis comforted a boy whose dog had died, noting, “One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”

Theologians say Francis—who took his papal name from the patron saint of animals, St. Francis of Assisi—was only speaking conversationally.

But the remark is being seen by some as a reversal of conservative Catholic theology which states that because they are soulless, animals can’t go to heaven, the New York Times reports.

In 1990, Pope John Paul II said animals have souls, but his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, gave a 2008 sermon that seemed to say the opposite.

Francis’ comment has now sparked a new debate on the subject, and the Humane Society says it has been flooded with emails. If Francis does in fact believe animals have souls, “then we ought to seriously consider how we treat them,” a rep says. “We have to admit that these are sentient beings, and they mean something to God.”

Medieval theologians might say that animals have souls, in the sense of the animating form, but that they are not immortal souls.  It could theoretically happen at the Resurrection, with God remaking everything that has died.

But, granted that the pope was not speaking ex cathedra, what do you think of this?