ANIMAL PEOPLE is the
leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage
of animal protection worldwide. Founded in 1992, ANIMAL PEOPLE has
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Pope John Paul II, 84, died on April 3, 2005.
Recalled the PETA-owned <www.GoVeg.com>
web site, “Pope John Paul II taught love for animals more than any
other pope in recent memory. In 1990, His Holiness proclaimed that ‘the
animals possess a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our
smaller brethren.’ He went on to say that all animals are ‘fruit
of the creative action of the Holy Spirit and merit respect’ and
that they are ‘as near to God as men are.’ After he became Pope,
His Holiness went to Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis, and spoke
of the saint’s love for animals. He declared, ‘We, too, are
called to a similar attitude.’ PETA is grateful that His Holiness
spoke out so beautifully for animals and their souls, and we hope that
his successor will also speak out for them with the same love and compassion.”
While Pope John Paul II never formally responded to petitions on animal
issues, the Vatican under his direction shifted in small steps toward
more animal-friendly policies.
In 1994, for instance, a new catechism stated in passages 2415-2418 that
“Animals are God’s creatures. He surrounds them with his providential
care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory. Thus
men owe them kindness.”
These declarations were qualified with affirmations that animals may be
used for food, clothing, work, entertainment, and medical and scientific
research “if it remains within reasonable limits. It is contrary
to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly,” the
catechism added, only to conclude, “It is likewise unworthy to spend
money on animals that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery.
One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due
only to humans.”
Pope John Paul II in September 2001 approved the use of animal organ transplants
to save human life, nine months after Belgian theologian Marie Hendrickx
hinted at the content of his eventual statement in the semi-official Vatican
newspaper L’Osservatore Romano. In the same essay, which was widely
believed to represent the thinking of the Pope, Hendrickx denounced bullfighting
and other forms of ritual animal abuse sometimes associated with Catholic
festivals, and went on to criticize factory farming and fur trapping.
Born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland, ordained a priest in 1946, and
made a Cardinal in 1967, Pope John Paul II in his 1984 official biography
God’s Broker described at length a dream he had in 1969 about a starving
mother cat and six kittens, who find no help from Jesuit and Anglican
clergy, but are fed by an impoverished old woman. Wrote Anton Gronowicz,
who transcribed the Pope’s account, “I had never seen such a
sad expression on the face of this man.” (Details of the dream are
accessible at <www.all-creatures.org/hr/hra-popecats.htm>.
