animals
Animal cruelty officer-turned-animal chaplain Matty Giuliano loves ferrets and St. Francis
By Kathryn Post — April 18, 2024
EATONTOWN, N.J. (RNS) — ‘I know there are plenty of people out there who believe animals have no souls,’ said Giuliano. ‘And I cannot accept one of God’s creation is, spiritually, the equivalent of a cup of ice cream.’
When mixing faith with furries, things can get hairy
By Riley Farrell — August 2, 2022
(RNS) — A Christian movement has established itself inside the mostly religion resistant world of furry fandom.
Pope Francis called pet owners selfish. An animal chaplain says he sells love short.
By Claire Giangravé — February 2, 2022
(RNS) — According to animal chaplain Sarah Bowen, animals have much to teach humans when it comes to spirituality.
For Christian birdwatchers, aka ‘ornitheoligists,’ religion takes flight
By Jessica Mundie — November 11, 2021
(RNS) — For many, the relationship between birds and Christianity does not stray farther than seeing a dove carrying an olive branch on a banner at church. However, for Christian birdwatchers, this link is alive.
National Dog Day 2021: Meet Petey the Beagle, associate pastor and greeter
By Kathryn Post — August 26, 2021
(RNS) — 'It seems a little strange, but (pet ministry) is mission, it's evangelism, it's education, it's hunger relief, it's pastoral care. All those things are part of the church.'
New e-course teaches: Copy cats and achieve purrvana
By Emily McFarlan Miller — January 25, 2021
(RNS) — ‘I’ve gone looking for wisdom, beauty, and truth wherever it can be found. And this past year I‘ve found myself learning most of all from my cats,’ said author Jon M. Sweeney about his new e-course called ‘The Spirituality of Cats.’
Fish, fowl — and faith
By Richard Mouw — August 29, 2017
The farmer did not want to reduce chickens to something less than they are. But neither did he want make them into something more. They are chickens, and that is a sufficient reason to treat them with some dignity—chicken dignity.
On Eid al-Adha, questioning Muslims’ passion for meat
By Aysha Khan — September 12, 2016
(RNS) 'Being a vegetarian and being in a Muslim society is almost like it's contradictory,' said one young Muslim. 'And I'm still not exactly sure why.'
Should Christians wish Peter Singer a happy birthday?
By Charles C. Camosy — July 6, 2016
(RNS) Here are three reasons traditional Christians should carefully and prayerfully engage Singer’s work with an open mind.
Why seal hunting may come back to bite humans (COMMENTARY)
By Charles C. Camosy — March 11, 2016
(RNS) It is no longer possible to separate how we treat human beings from how we treat the whole of God’s creation.
Heaven and near-death experiences: Separating fact from fiction
By Jonathan Merritt — January 1, 2016
Books and films on heaven and near-death experiences came under scrutiny in 2015. Theologian Scot McKnight says that the topic has become muddled with myths and extra-biblical notions.
Sorry, Fido. Pope Francis did NOT say our pets are going to heaven
By David Gibson — December 12, 2014
(RNS) The New York Times was the biggest of several outlets relating an apocryphal tale about pets, paradise, and Pope Francis. Here's how, and why, it happened.
The ‘Splainer: Yom Kippur, Eid, St. Francis and the poor goats
By Kimberly Winston — October 2, 2014
(RNS) You've heard of the scapegoat, right? Here's how it fits into the overlap of Yom Kippur, Eid al-Adha and St. Francis of Assisi.
Creationists’ Achilles’ heel? Dealing with animal suffering
By Jonathan Merritt — July 31, 2014
A Fulbright scholar contends that animal suffering and death presents a formidable challenge for Christian creationists and Biblical literalists.
The animals that sacrifice for us
By Rachel Marie Stone — May 22, 2014
Animals sacrifice for us. Why we can hope for a more peaceful world for them.
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