Will Our Pets Go To Heaven?

| May 11, 2020 11:01 AM

The question about animals going to heaven after they die has been a topic of conversation for some time; however, it gained more attention after Pope Francis said to a little boy that had lost his dog “Paradise is open to all God’s creatures”. This is the opposite of what his predecessor said, Pope Benedict XVI, he said that when animals die, they just die. The general understanding among Christians is that of Pope John Paul II which is that animals do have souls, granted that human souls are different from animal souls. Not everyone agrees on whether or not pets or animals in general go to heaven along with people. And, the Bible doesn’t directly accept the idea nor denies it. But if God has given animals a soul, maybe animals continue to exist just as humans do.

There is a famous poem called “The Legend of Rainbow Bridge” that describes a place called Rainbow Bridge, where pets patiently wait to be reunited with the people they loved. The poem says “Then with your beloved pet by your side, you will cross the Rainbow Bridge together”. Although there may not really be a rainbow bridge where we and our pets cross over to be in heaven, people believe that this poem reflects some reality of what will happen after our pets die. It is not unusual to grieve the loss of a pet as we would for a human companion and as a result some people feel comfort with the idea that they will be reunited with their beloved pets. Perhaps God will allow them to be with us in heaven or maybe he will create a new pet for us. What ever the situation may be, we must trust that what God is preparing for us will be beyond anything we can ever imagine.

As it is written: What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived- the things God has prepared for those who love him- Corinthians 2:9

The best advice for us is to love our pets while they are still will us and to trust God for he knows how much we love our pets and how much they mean to us.