There are arguments on both sides. Those in favor argue that there is nothing intrinsic to the nature of God or animals that would prohibit God from creating new creatures and miraculously keeping them in existence. Just as God will preserve other material things from corruption, including the human body, he could very well create new non-human animals and preserve them from corruption.
We know from the natural light of human reason that the pets we have now will not exist in the new heaven and new earth. The souls that animals have are entirely dependent on their material makeup. As such, they do not continue to exist after bodily death as human souls do. Therefore, all animals that die before the advent of Christ’s second coming will not exist in the new heaven and new earth.
Those against the idea of non-human animals existing in the new creation argue that there will be no need for them. The perfection in joy that humans will have in God and one another seems to preclude the need for the affection pets give us and the need to use animals in general for achieving certain natural goods.
This past Wednesday evening, our student peer ministers led a program about animals in the Catholic Church — what the Church teaches about our moral responsibility toward animals, their place in creation, and also their symbolic use in Christian art and iconography. It was an interesting presentation. One question that arose from the discussion was whether animals go to heaven.
The soul is the life-force of the body, so every living thing has a soul. Humans do. Dogs and cats do. Insects do. Celery does. But each type of living creature has a soul proper to its particular nature. Human beings have human souls, dogs have dog souls, cats have cat souls and so forth.
Scripture tells of a “new heaven and a new earth” that will be created at the end of time (Rev 21:1, Is 65:17). This is an aspect of the afterlife that we sometimes forget about when we discuss heaven. After the general resurrection, we will have physical bodies. Those bodies will need a physical realm to live in — a new earth. And since our new bodies will be like the ones we have now only glorified, the new earth will probably also be much like the one we live in now only glorified. That means it will likely have animals. In fact, scripture mentions many animals in association with the world to come.
Animals likewise don’t possess free will. They operate primarily on instinct. Because of their lack of reason and free will, animals are not moral agents. That means they are not responsible for their actions in the same way that human beings are. Animals are good, in the sense that their being reflects God’s goodness. “Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God’s infinite wisdom and goodness” (CCC 339). But animals are incapable of doing moral good. They are not capable of virtuous acts, but they are also not capable of sin. So assuming animal souls did survive death, they would not be subject to a final judgement like we will be.
We must be mindful of the fact that language describing heaven in the scriptures is always going to be symbolic (here describing the great peace that awaits us). But since God thought it good to make animals a part of this creation, and uses them (even if symbolically) in describing the new creation, it is reasonable to believe that animals will be with us in the world to come.
A. Every priest hears this question from children! It seems that the deep affection children (and all people) have for their pets leads them to a strong desire for a “yes” to this question. So the answer is…”yes,” “maybe,” “not exactly,” and “you can hope!”
First of all, when we humans die, that is, when we die in this age in history before Jesus returns to establish “The new Heavens and Earth,” we believe that our body and soul separate. The body dies and is “laid to rest” until Jesus returns in all His glory and brings about the resurrection of the body. Until then, the body is dead. However, human spirits live on. Our spirit cannot die and, thus, Heaven (or Purgatory or Hell) awaits our spirits after earthly death. Only humans, angels, and God have eternal spirits. Animals do not. Therefore, for now, when an animal dies, it is dead and there is no spirit that lives on in Heaven.
This difficult question does not have a clear and absolute answer. Therefore, any of the above answers could be correct. However, let’s offer some clarity and possibilities regarding the afterlife and animals.
But wait just a moment! There is hope that your pet, and all creatures, will rise again. How and why? The reason you can have this hope is because from the very beginning of time, in the original state of holiness (the Garden of Eden) there were animals. So, even though animals do not have eternal spirits, they are physical and have what we may call an animal soul. An animal soul does die when the animal dies, but there is no telling what might happen at the resurrection of the dead! When Jesus returns in all His glory and all humans rise from the dead, will animals and all living creatures also rise? This is something you can hope for.
Furthermore, Isaiah 11:6 speaks prophetically about this new age to come. That passage says, “Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; The calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.” So is this a literal statement? Is it proof that animals will rise? Or is it just symbolic and figurative? Hard to tell. However, for that reason, it is worth having hope that animals will have some share in the new Heavens and Earth to come!