Where does the Vatican stand with animals having a soul; and can you site your source?

vatican has no clue they deal only with humans keep them in the dark

I don't know about the Vatican but the bible says:

"Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?"

Ecclesiastes 3:21

Thus animals do have spirits.

The human "soul" is really the mind, emotions and will. I believe animals have all 3. So if you mean "soul" in this sense, then they have a soul. Coz animals can choose (will) where to sleep, when to eat... they feel scared, loved... etc

To the best of my knowledge, the Vatican and Christians in general believe that only the human being has a soul.

My personal belief is all sentient beings have souls.

From my readings of the Catholic Fathers, the official Catholic stance is that animals have no souls. Look at the writings of St John of the Cross.

According to most catholic theologians animals have a soul but not an eternal soul just an animal soul and they perish with death.

Animals are not either made in God's image.

The Catechism of the church does not address this issue. The bible does not get real specific about it either. I would extrapolate that if we are allowed to eat every living creature(Genesis) then they probably do not have souls.

See the Catechism, paragraphs 2415:2418

It does not address the concept of soul. It does address our stewardship of them, and the priority we should show them with respect to humans.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P8B.HTM#LZ

God Bless,

MoP

The "spark of life" is in all living creatures.

it's.... "cite".... not site...