Animals in Church Doctrine – God’s Forgotten Creatures? Arguments for a Theological Appreciation of Animals

Abstract

Christianity enjoys a reputation of being notoriously anthropocentric. With reference to relevant passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Church has been accused of forgetting animals in recent years. In a first step, this article examines the Catechism’s teachings about non-human creatures in general and animals in particular. In a second step, paradigms for a respectful view of animals in Catholic doctrine are developed. The article aims at proving that a theology of living beings is not alien to Catholic theology.