The catholic Archbishop of Freiburg , Stephan Burger, has said he is opposed to church funeral services for pets.
“I am clearly in favour of an ethically responsible treatment of animals and am concerned about animal welfare. But we should not humanise animals. A catholic mourning rite specifically for pets is unthinkable for me,” he told Germany’s Catholic News Agency (KNA).
However, the bishop added that it was important to stand by all people who were mourning the loss of an animal. He was commenting on the start of religious funeral services for animals by pet undertakers in Albstadt in the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
They say they will open the first pet funeral church in Germany on Saturday and have taken over a former church of a methodist protestant congregation for the purpose. They have already received 50 registrations for pet funerals.
Should we have a mourning rite for our pets? Do they not deserve our love in death as in life? We bless our pets, why not bury them with love and dignity?
A funeral can provide a sense of closure and the way to honour the bond of love between the pet and its family, especially where children are involved.
Grieving for a pet is normal and a funeral can be good therapy. A funeral which involves the community and friends and family to offer support can also be very healthy and beneficial.
Of course for many what happens to their pets when they die is a significant concern. Christians don’t believe animals have souls. However some argue that creatures are all part of God’s creation and that in the Kingdom come all creatures will have a place in heaven, in the ‘new heaven and new earth’.
The simple answer is that the Catechism of the Catholic Church doesn’t offer an answer. But if you want to hope and believe that Rex is in a better place, then you are free to believe that. Whether he can get a catholic funeral is a whole other proposition.