Sorry to be so late to post a comment. I was doing some research that expresses how I feel about the teachings of the Catholic Church.
I will not whitewash my disdain and defiance toward the Catholic Church and what it stands for--its thoroughly invalid and arrogant anthropocentric theology/teachings--with apologies to Fr. Martin:
I find Fr. Martin's views, while sincere, to be very similar to the views of Christian apologists regarding the relationship of humans to other animals, as per Genesis: "What's the difference between God granting [man] dominion over every living thing and the U.S. military seeking full-spectrum dominance?" Quote: Derrick Jensen, an American ecophilosopher, writer, author and environmentalist in the anarcho-primitivist tradition.
Throughout Christian history, the style of Western man’s dominion over nature has been that of Genesis 1, and the few sensitive and hopeful souls who have properly recognized the relatively MINOR theme of stewardship have had NO IMPACT ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS WHATEVER. The world is full of Christian apologists who call attention to the stewardship theme in defense of their persuasion, but THEIR RECOGNITION OF IT HAS NEVER PROGRESSED BEYOND THE ACADEMIC STAGE. IT HAS MADE NO IMPRESSION UPON THE “REAL WORLD.” What HAS made an impression is the sense of Genesis 9:2 – “AND THE FEAR OF THEE AND THE DREAD OF THEE SHALL BE UPON EVERY LIVING THING….”
Statement of prejudice
First of all, the Thomist or Roman tradition of moral philosophy, for which animals are effectively things, owed no duties of justice, charity or religion ‘as neither are stocks and stones.’ Rickaby’s view is no more extreme than that expressed by other such writers, save that he even denies that ‘we are bound to any anxious care to make (the pain we cause animals in sport or science) as little as possible.’ Most other writers do make a nominal genuflection in the direction of ‘avoidance of unnecessary suffering’—a caveat recognized as effectively meaningless and irrelevant....
It is only fair to add that there have been zoophiles amongst respected figures of the Roman church, including Cardinal Manning. Cardinal Heenan has expressed the kindlier, though I think still inadequate view, that animals, who have no rights ‘in their own right’, nonetheless have rights as God’s creatures. I anticipate my later discussion by remarking that the view is inadequate not because animals do have rights in their own right, but because nothing does, save as God’s creature. In general, however, the Thomist tradition has helped to hardens men’s hearts…. Source: Stephen R.L. Clark, "The Moral Status of Animals," 1977
GOOD SHEPHERD SHELTER-Mother Cecilia didn't let age or hard work or objections from authorities keep her from the task at hand SOURCE: Cat Fancy Magazine, Feb. 1981
TWENTY YEARS AGO, when she was 71, Mother Cecilia embarked on a new mission—that of animal rescue work. Depending entirely on public support and donations, she established the Good Shepherd Shelter, a 58-acre complex a half-hour’s drive from Victoria, British Columbia, which houses almost 600 abandoned and homeless animals. It is the only such facility in the world operated by nuns.
Word of the shelter’s expansion soon reached the Roman Catholic hierarchy and an emissary was sent to pay a visit to Mother Cecilia. Disturbed by the unorthodoxy of the situation, the Church representative asked which she would choose were she given the alternative between the animals and excommunication. Without hesitating, Mother Cecilia answered, “I would choose excommunication. I certainly would not give up the animal work now.”
Soon after this visit, Mother Cecilia was delivered an ultimatum from the Church officialdom to close the shelter and to return to the convent. Holding firm in her determination not to give up her work with animals, Mother Cecilia made her case public, won community support and continued to operate the shelter…. GOOD FOR HER!
Sorry, but I should like to add a bit more that I could not in the earlier post.
Why I Quit the Catholic Church
The primary reason I quit the Catholic Church over its teachings is, as a child I loved animals (still do, even more) like many, if not most children who seem to have an innate sense of kinship with other animals whom they regard as equals, until they are corrupted by adults, religion, and a speciesist society. I was being indoctrinated to regard as ethically "normal" stripping other animals of any moral standing in order to uphold human exceptionalism and facilitate human domination over them without moral qualms. In general, the Catholic Church’s teachings have helped to harden our hearts, starting as children under the authority of parish priests, Sunday schools, parochial schools, and news media influence saturated with subliminal religious messages (such as reporting on the Pope and the Vatican). Here's what I learned:
FROM THE CATECHISM: 2418 It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise UNWORTHY to spend money on them 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 persons. IN OTHER WORDS...addressing all the relentless atrocities, misery, suffering, deprivation, torture, terrorizing, killing and violence humans unflinchingly and defiantly inflict on other animals and supporting animal protection charities, sanctuaries, rescue operations, and causes...is to be considered UNWORTHY of “human dignity” (sugarcoated by Catholic Church doctrine) because human suffering should be a priority! Tens of thousands of farmed animals can die in barn fires, but only human suffering is a priority! WHAT A JOKE! Pope Francis had tweeted that "It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly" (repeating word-for-word the Catechism, but omitting the rest of the sentence, as above stated).
As for his Laudato Si': "In one list of the care for creation, I see ONLY ONE that mentions animals. The rest concern humans, especially embryos. The Pope may talk about animals and caring for them. I haven't found one place where he says people have to close down factory farms and slaughterhouses and switch to plant-based diets. He never says that animal abuse is a sin." SOURCE: animal-activist comrade. Of course it's not a sin to the Pope since only human embryos matter, but secular law recognizes animal abuse as a crime!
In a recent World Day of Peace message (from 2010), the pontiff ( Pope Benedict XVI) warned against any notions that equate human beings with other living things in the name of a “supposedly egalitarian vision.” He said such notions “open the way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man’s salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms.”
The pope explained in the message that while many experience tranquility and peace when coming into contact with nature, a correct relationship between man and the environment should not lead to “absolutizing nature” or “considering it more important than the human person.” Link: The Vatican criticizes ‘Avatar’ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/.../vatican-criticizes.../
WHERE JD VANCE GOT HIS "CHILDLESS CAT LADIES" COMMENT
Paris (CNN)Pope Francis has criticized couples who choose to have pets instead of children as selfish, arguing that their decision to forgo parenthood leads to a loss of "humanity" and is a detriment to civilization.
The Pope made the comments Wednesday while speaking to a general audience about Saint Joseph, Jesus' earthly father.
Francis was lauding Joseph's decision to bring up Jesus as "among the highest forms of love" when he veered into the topic of adoption and orphaned children today. He then turned his focus on couples that opt for animals instead of children.
"We see that people do not want to have children, or just one and no more. And many, many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one -- but they have two dogs, two cats ... Yes, dogs and cats take the place of children," the Pope said. "Yes, it's funny, I understand, but it is the reality. And this denial of fatherhood or motherhood diminishes us, it takes away our humanity. And in this way civilization becomes aged and without humanity, because it loses the richness of fatherhood and motherhood. And our homeland suffers, as it does not have children." [The Pope is a human-overpopulation denier.]
Pope adds to the pressure on Poland to reverse its ban on ritual slaughter
The Pope has promised Jewish and Muslim leaders in Poland that he will do his best to overturn the ban on religious slaughter that was agreed by the Polish Constitutional Court in January. The Court ruled that ritual slaughter is incompatible with animal welfare regulations.
The Pope has assigned a senior church official to "investigate" the ban, which he said was against the "religious freedom of Polish Jewry".
Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich expressed gratitude for the pope's decision to get involved in the debate over Kosher slaughter, telling The Jerusalem Post that "anyone who supports shechita anywhere in the world is something that is very welcome and encouraging and especially coming from the pope, it really gives us encouragement that together with the Polish government we will find a wise and quick solution."
The Pope met Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) — which represents Jewish communities outside Israel — on Monday to discuss the ban, among other issues.
"The Pope specifically expressed concern about the bans on kosher slaughter in Poland and directed Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Vatican's Commission for Relations with the Jews, to investigate and host a follow-up meeting as early as next week," the WJC said in a statement after their talks.
The Jewish and Muslim communities each number around 20,000 to 30,000 people in Poland, a country of some 38 million people.
European Union rules on the slaughter of livestock are designed to minimise suffering for animals when they are killed, but religious groups are exempted from a requirement that animals be stunned before death.
Kosher and halal slaughter require an animal be killed by slitting its [sic] throat and permitting it to bleed to death while conscious.
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "It is not the Pope's business to try to interfere with the democratic processes of an independent nation like Poland. We know that the Catholic Church wields inordinate power in Poland, but this should not be used to try and overturn parliamentary or judicial decisions.
"If this ban is revoked after the Vatican intervenes it will be a blow to democracy in Poland. It also poses a potential threat to the independence of every other country that has a large Catholic population and whose government happens to make a decision the pope doesn't like."
Great interview. I find it interesting that he says he was born a Christian. I've never heard religious belief expressed like that before.
Sorry to be so late to post a comment. I was doing some research that expresses how I feel about the teachings of the Catholic Church.
I will not whitewash my disdain and defiance toward the Catholic Church and what it stands for--its thoroughly invalid and arrogant anthropocentric theology/teachings--with apologies to Fr. Martin:
I find Fr. Martin's views, while sincere, to be very similar to the views of Christian apologists regarding the relationship of humans to other animals, as per Genesis: "What's the difference between God granting [man] dominion over every living thing and the U.S. military seeking full-spectrum dominance?" Quote: Derrick Jensen, an American ecophilosopher, writer, author and environmentalist in the anarcho-primitivist tradition.
Throughout Christian history, the style of Western man’s dominion over nature has been that of Genesis 1, and the few sensitive and hopeful souls who have properly recognized the relatively MINOR theme of stewardship have had NO IMPACT ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS WHATEVER. The world is full of Christian apologists who call attention to the stewardship theme in defense of their persuasion, but THEIR RECOGNITION OF IT HAS NEVER PROGRESSED BEYOND THE ACADEMIC STAGE. IT HAS MADE NO IMPRESSION UPON THE “REAL WORLD.” What HAS made an impression is the sense of Genesis 9:2 – “AND THE FEAR OF THEE AND THE DREAD OF THEE SHALL BE UPON EVERY LIVING THING….”
Statement of prejudice
First of all, the Thomist or Roman tradition of moral philosophy, for which animals are effectively things, owed no duties of justice, charity or religion ‘as neither are stocks and stones.’ Rickaby’s view is no more extreme than that expressed by other such writers, save that he even denies that ‘we are bound to any anxious care to make (the pain we cause animals in sport or science) as little as possible.’ Most other writers do make a nominal genuflection in the direction of ‘avoidance of unnecessary suffering’—a caveat recognized as effectively meaningless and irrelevant....
It is only fair to add that there have been zoophiles amongst respected figures of the Roman church, including Cardinal Manning. Cardinal Heenan has expressed the kindlier, though I think still inadequate view, that animals, who have no rights ‘in their own right’, nonetheless have rights as God’s creatures. I anticipate my later discussion by remarking that the view is inadequate not because animals do have rights in their own right, but because nothing does, save as God’s creature. In general, however, the Thomist tradition has helped to hardens men’s hearts…. Source: Stephen R.L. Clark, "The Moral Status of Animals," 1977
GOOD SHEPHERD SHELTER-Mother Cecilia didn't let age or hard work or objections from authorities keep her from the task at hand SOURCE: Cat Fancy Magazine, Feb. 1981
TWENTY YEARS AGO, when she was 71, Mother Cecilia embarked on a new mission—that of animal rescue work. Depending entirely on public support and donations, she established the Good Shepherd Shelter, a 58-acre complex a half-hour’s drive from Victoria, British Columbia, which houses almost 600 abandoned and homeless animals. It is the only such facility in the world operated by nuns.
Word of the shelter’s expansion soon reached the Roman Catholic hierarchy and an emissary was sent to pay a visit to Mother Cecilia. Disturbed by the unorthodoxy of the situation, the Church representative asked which she would choose were she given the alternative between the animals and excommunication. Without hesitating, Mother Cecilia answered, “I would choose excommunication. I certainly would not give up the animal work now.”
Soon after this visit, Mother Cecilia was delivered an ultimatum from the Church officialdom to close the shelter and to return to the convent. Holding firm in her determination not to give up her work with animals, Mother Cecilia made her case public, won community support and continued to operate the shelter…. GOOD FOR HER!
Sorry, but I should like to add a bit more that I could not in the earlier post.
Why I Quit the Catholic Church
The primary reason I quit the Catholic Church over its teachings is, as a child I loved animals (still do, even more) like many, if not most children who seem to have an innate sense of kinship with other animals whom they regard as equals, until they are corrupted by adults, religion, and a speciesist society. I was being indoctrinated to regard as ethically "normal" stripping other animals of any moral standing in order to uphold human exceptionalism and facilitate human domination over them without moral qualms. In general, the Catholic Church’s teachings have helped to harden our hearts, starting as children under the authority of parish priests, Sunday schools, parochial schools, and news media influence saturated with subliminal religious messages (such as reporting on the Pope and the Vatican). Here's what I learned:
FROM THE CATECHISM: 2418 It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise UNWORTHY to spend money on them 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 persons. IN OTHER WORDS...addressing all the relentless atrocities, misery, suffering, deprivation, torture, terrorizing, killing and violence humans unflinchingly and defiantly inflict on other animals and supporting animal protection charities, sanctuaries, rescue operations, and causes...is to be considered UNWORTHY of “human dignity” (sugarcoated by Catholic Church doctrine) because human suffering should be a priority! Tens of thousands of farmed animals can die in barn fires, but only human suffering is a priority! WHAT A JOKE! Pope Francis had tweeted that "It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly" (repeating word-for-word the Catechism, but omitting the rest of the sentence, as above stated).
As for his Laudato Si': "In one list of the care for creation, I see ONLY ONE that mentions animals. The rest concern humans, especially embryos. The Pope may talk about animals and caring for them. I haven't found one place where he says people have to close down factory farms and slaughterhouses and switch to plant-based diets. He never says that animal abuse is a sin." SOURCE: animal-activist comrade. Of course it's not a sin to the Pope since only human embryos matter, but secular law recognizes animal abuse as a crime!
In a recent World Day of Peace message (from 2010), the pontiff ( Pope Benedict XVI) warned against any notions that equate human beings with other living things in the name of a “supposedly egalitarian vision.” He said such notions “open the way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man’s salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms.”
The pope explained in the message that while many experience tranquility and peace when coming into contact with nature, a correct relationship between man and the environment should not lead to “absolutizing nature” or “considering it more important than the human person.” Link: The Vatican criticizes ‘Avatar’ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/.../vatican-criticizes.../
WHERE JD VANCE GOT HIS "CHILDLESS CAT LADIES" COMMENT
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/05/europe/pope-dogs-cats-kids-intl/index.html
Paris (CNN)Pope Francis has criticized couples who choose to have pets instead of children as selfish, arguing that their decision to forgo parenthood leads to a loss of "humanity" and is a detriment to civilization.
The Pope made the comments Wednesday while speaking to a general audience about Saint Joseph, Jesus' earthly father.
Francis was lauding Joseph's decision to bring up Jesus as "among the highest forms of love" when he veered into the topic of adoption and orphaned children today. He then turned his focus on couples that opt for animals instead of children.
"We see that people do not want to have children, or just one and no more. And many, many couples do not have children because they do not want to, or they have just one -- but they have two dogs, two cats ... Yes, dogs and cats take the place of children," the Pope said. "Yes, it's funny, I understand, but it is the reality. And this denial of fatherhood or motherhood diminishes us, it takes away our humanity. And in this way civilization becomes aged and without humanity, because it loses the richness of fatherhood and motherhood. And our homeland suffers, as it does not have children." [The Pope is a human-overpopulation denier.]
Pope adds to the pressure on Poland to reverse its ban on ritual slaughter
https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/09/pope-adds-to-the-pressure-on-poland-to-reverse-its-ban-on-ritual-slaughter
POPE FRANCIS versus ANIMAL CRUELY BANS
Pope adds to the pressure on Poland to reverse its ban on ritual slaughter
https://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/09/pope-adds-to-the-pressure-on-poland-to-reverse-its-ban-on-ritual-slaughter
Tue, 3rd Sep 2013
The Pope has promised Jewish and Muslim leaders in Poland that he will do his best to overturn the ban on religious slaughter that was agreed by the Polish Constitutional Court in January. The Court ruled that ritual slaughter is incompatible with animal welfare regulations.
The Pope has assigned a senior church official to "investigate" the ban, which he said was against the "religious freedom of Polish Jewry".
Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich expressed gratitude for the pope's decision to get involved in the debate over Kosher slaughter, telling The Jerusalem Post that "anyone who supports shechita anywhere in the world is something that is very welcome and encouraging and especially coming from the pope, it really gives us encouragement that together with the Polish government we will find a wise and quick solution."
The Pope met Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) — which represents Jewish communities outside Israel — on Monday to discuss the ban, among other issues.
"The Pope specifically expressed concern about the bans on kosher slaughter in Poland and directed Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Vatican's Commission for Relations with the Jews, to investigate and host a follow-up meeting as early as next week," the WJC said in a statement after their talks.
The Jewish and Muslim communities each number around 20,000 to 30,000 people in Poland, a country of some 38 million people.
European Union rules on the slaughter of livestock are designed to minimise suffering for animals when they are killed, but religious groups are exempted from a requirement that animals be stunned before death.
Kosher and halal slaughter require an animal be killed by slitting its [sic] throat and permitting it to bleed to death while conscious.
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said: "It is not the Pope's business to try to interfere with the democratic processes of an independent nation like Poland. We know that the Catholic Church wields inordinate power in Poland, but this should not be used to try and overturn parliamentary or judicial decisions.
"If this ban is revoked after the Vatican intervenes it will be a blow to democracy in Poland. It also poses a potential threat to the independence of every other country that has a large Catholic population and whose government happens to make a decision the pope doesn't like."