A Zoological Manifesto and Letter to My Fellow Catholics

There is a sort of tragic irony in loving creation. Flowers bloom each spring and birds lay their eggs. Yellow sunsets creep up from beyond dark mountains, and creatures with tawny hides and padded paws lie in wait for their prey. The world continues to turn as the small and innocent are destroyed by other animals that eat their flesh to survive (1). Death, the wages for mankind’s sin, continues to tear the world apart.

People often look to wooded paths and empty places to escape the evils of humanity, but there is a brokenness in the natural world as well. It permeates every aspect of the animal kingdom, turning creation into a neurotic dance between living and dying. Perhaps we see it less in the natural world because 

we are so removed from anything that is not human. Or perhaps it is because we have simply told ourselves this dance is part of God’s design for animals. The cycle of life, reproduction, and death, works so well that some mistake it for beauty– and truly, there is a beauty in it. Even death and pain have a sort of feral majesty in the harshness of the wilds. There is an order to this creation thrown into disorder– a tragedy, a broken perfection. The most fertile soil is the one full of decomposing plant and animal matter. The healthiest fox cub is the one with the most meat in its small stomach, full to the brim with another creature’s young. It is like creation is trying to teach us that after death comes new life, and that even in the natural sense, a type resurrection occurs. The world keeps turning, the cycle keeps going. Creatures that cannot sin feel physical and psychological pain. But in the beginning it was not so. 

There was no death before The Fall. We are told in the book of Wisdom that “God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things that they might exist” (2). Man was appointed as a steward over creation. When Adam fell into sin, everything under his dominion was also affected. Still, Christ has shown His mercy. He has given animals instincts and the ability to adapt. He has placed the fear of mankind in their hearts (3). In a world of such brutality, it is a mercy to be given claws. 

1. “Animals” in this document is used to refer to non-human animals. Because humans share the same physical substance as animals we are classified taxonomically as part of the animalia kingdom. However, humans possess many spiritual qualities that animals do not. So as not to confuse things, I have decided to only use the word “animal” to describe a non-human animal. The word “beast” is used similarly.

2. Wisdom 1:13 –14, RSVCE

3. Genesis 9: 1–17, RSVCE

The Relationship of Man and Beast

The fall of man was a tripart rending of relationships. Firstly, humans chose to no longer trust God, ripping apart the most sacred and primordial of bonds. The second was the destruction of human relationships, and the third was the relationship between man and nature, specifically that of man and beast. 

Our forefather, Adam, was the first zoologist. We see this in his naming of the animals. When you name something, it means you understand– even minutely– a particular aspect of it. This is also why God has so many names. He can only be known in part, for us finite creatures cannot comprehend the Infinite. Intuitively Adam knew it was his job to understand the other creatures in the garden. The task of the zoologist then, or any biologist for that matter, is a divine, primordial calling. 

Before he was cast out of Eden, mankind did not eat the flesh of animals. He had no need of their skins to cover him, nor was wool necessary to keep him warm. It is true that animals were given to mankind to use, but their original use is higher than their secondary use. Animals offered us no material goods. What then was their original purpose?

At the core of their being, animals were created to show us God’s glory. Each one of them possesses a certain perfection within themselves (4). The lower creatures were given to man to protect and care for. It is only in loving creatures so much lower than ourselves that we can begin to understand the love God has for us. When Jesus calls Himself the good shepherd, how are we to know what He means unless we already understand what it is to care for something lowly? 

It is true that we live after the fall and the flood. Animals have become physical resources for us, but we must not dare to abuse this power. Saint Francis of Assisi tells us in his gentle way that “Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission to be of service to them wherever they require it. If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.” God has allowed humans to hunt, kill, and eat animals (5). This is right and good. It is simply the temporary order of things. But animals' original use still stands undiminished. Humans are now both the apex predators and protectors of the natural world. 

The Catechism tells us that “Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in the service of each other” (6). Man is at the head of this. He is given authority over the Earth. But with this responsibility comes a great warning. We will all stand someday before our God. That day, Christ will judge us by our deeds on Earth. When he sees what each of us has done to creation, what will our Lord say? Saint Hildegard of Bingin tells us “there is the music of Heaven in all things,” but she also warns, “The high, the low, all of creation God gives to humankind to use. But if this privilege is misused, God’s justice permits creation to punish humanity.” Animals have been given to man, but those who abuse this power have missed the point entirely.

Hear the cicadas humm their evening vespers. Listen to the crash of thunder or the muffled cries of a newborn lamb. This world of ours is full of strange and wondrous things. We must not think of creation as a thing to be owned and abused. We should never for once think animals are expendable. It was mankind’s pride that wounded earth, and it is mankind’s pride that continues to destroy it. What sin it is to think the masters of this Earth have no obligation to love it. The Saints with the most power over creation were the ones that loved it the most. Saint Anthony of Padua had a donkey bow to the Eucharist, with just one act of kindness Saint Jerome tamed a lion, and with only a few words, Francis of Assisi stopped a wolf from attacking villagers. If we want creation to be subject to us, we must first love it. 

It is only the just treatment of animals God permits. We cannot afford to fall into sin through injustice to the truly voiceless. Let us pray with Saint Basil the Great that God may “enlarge within us the sense of fellowship with all living things, even our brothers, the animals, to whom Thou gavest the earth as their home in common with us. We remember with shame that in the past we have exercised the high dominion of man with ruthless cruelty so that the voice of the earth, which should have gone up to thee in song, has been a groan of pain."

4. CCC 339

5. Genesis 9:3-6

6. CCC 340 (for further reference, see 295)

To My Fellow Catholics

While I was in the process of coming to the Church in 2024, a part of me was scared to know what I would learn. I have heard many educated Catholics talk about animals as if they didn't matter. It hurt me to think that creatures I find so wild and beautiful may not have any place within the Church’s love. Unfortunately, my experience is not isolated. 

A few years ago, a falconer and raptor rehabilitator told me about an interesting interaction he had with some nuns living near his rehabilitation center. The nuns told him that he should not waste his time caring for injured birds. They said that animals have no soul, no mind, no spark of intelligence (7). This falconer is one of the most passionate conservationists I know, and being told what you love is worthless deals the soul a heavy blow. This falconer was raised Catholic, but I believe this event contributed to him leaving the Church.

At its core, this reaction is one of fear. The natural world is full of mystery and the unknown. It is a jungle exploding with life and sound. Seldom do people accept the knowledge it offers us. Instead of understanding our world we put creation into a safely-lidded box that few creatures fit into. 

We see misguided activists holding signs that declare farm animals more important than human children. We balk at this, and rightfully so. But in our fear of regarding animals too highly, we have placed them too low. The proper ordering of goods stands supreme in leading a life full of truth and grace, but feeling the need to distance man and beast is simply a pendulum swing. It brings us no closer to the truth we so desperately seek, and only serves to bridle our potential. Again, this is the work of human pride. 

In the end, which places humanity higher? To be the stewards of mindless, barely conscious beasts? Or to be the stewards of intelligent and emotional animals? As we discover new things about this fascinating world of ours, we must lay aside the misconceptions we have about creation. Animal intelligence should be a cause of rejoicing and fascination. It should be Catholics trailblazing the expansive planes of zoology and animal welfare, not godless and confused organizations. 

The Church is Christ’s body on Earth. We are a lamp in this darkened world, a lighthouse in a black and turbulent sea. My dear brothers and sisters, is creation an afterthought for you? Zoologists have only just scraped the surface of what there is to know. In 2021 alone, researchers have learned that California Condors are capable of parthenogenesis, that wild donkeys dig six foot wells in the desert, and that a lizard smaller than your pinky toe has been living in Madagascar. Scientific history is unfolding before us. 

God’s power is expressed in nature. We must experience it with eyes wide open, knowing that we are the crown of this work of love and creativity. We live in a world of fur and feathers and scales. How can we help but to marvel at it? 

7. Intelligence in a broad sense of the world. Animals are not rational but have their own unique patterns of learning and problem solving.

Psalm 104: 14 - 23

The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, 

the cedars of Lebanon which he planted. 

In them the birds build their nests; 

the stork has her home in the fir trees. 

The high mountains are for the wild goats; 

the rocks are a refuge for the badgers. 

Thou hast made the moon to mark the seasons; 

the sun knows its time for setting. 

Thou makest darkness, and it is night,

when all the beasts of the forest creep forth. 

The young lions roar for their prey, 

seeking their food from God. 

When the sun rises, they get them away 

and lie down in their dens. 

Man goes forth to his work 

and to his labor until the evening.