Faith and animal welfare share a strong bond. Many religions teach us to care for animals. They see animals as part of creation. This belief encourages kindness to animals.
People of faith often feel it’s their duty to protect animals. Animal welfare is not just about laws, it’s about compassion and empathy.
All animals (companion animals, barnyard friends, native wildlife, endangered species, birds and marine creatures – should all live happy and free lives). Religious stories often feature animals. They show us animals are important.
Saint Francis of Assisi (above) was a real party boy in his native Italy, before giving up his wealthy lifestyle, to become the patron Catholic saint of animals and ecology.
Even small acts of kindness to animals can make a big difference. So, how can we help animals today? We can start by being gentle and making kind choices. Respect animals as we do people. This way, faith guides us in creating a caring world for all creatures.
Faith often inspires us to act from our hearts. It’s a guiding light that shapes how we interact with the world around us.
When it comes to animal welfare, the compassionate principles ingrained in many religious beliefs encourage us to show kindness to all living beings. But how do these teachings translate into our actions? Let’s explore this fascinating interconnection.
Catholic Concern for Animals is a charity concerned with animal welfare issues, with its own magazine The Ark about the latest issues worldwide. It also offers free animal welfare education resources.
Creature Kind is dedicated to including animal welfare within the Christian faith. Churches can download a six-week course, and there is a Friendly Food Challenge Toolkit, to encourage plant-based meals at Christian camps.
Anglian Society for the Welfare of Animals offers an annual award for animal-friendly churches, online sermons and a free magazine for members on animal welfare issues. Free resources are available as free downloads for Animal Welfare Sunday service.
Compassion in World Farming is staffed by vets who want bans on religious slaughter, replaced by alternative methods of slaughter (it’s fine for people following Jewish or Islamic to be vegan).
Books on Animal-Friendly Faith
Franciscan Field Guide is an overview of the Franciscan arm of the Catholic church, of course influenced by St Francis of Assisi, an Italian saint of animal welfare and ecology, who in his previous life was a real party boy!
Along with close friend St Clare of Assisi, these saints can restore your faith, if dismayed by the way the modern church treats animals.
Saint Kevin And the Blackbird is a child’s retelling of a little-known story of a Celtic saint. One morning, Kevin the monk is praying and thanking the Creator for playing otters and singing larks near the rocky shore by Glendalough monastery.
Then a blackbird lands in his cupped hands, to build a nest. The story goes (supported by the other monks) that he remained motionless (like a tree), until the fledglings safely hatched and left the nest (takes about two weeks).
A Book to Celebrate God & Nature
If God Were a Great Big Bear is a beautiful book, to celebrate God and his creations, in the form of nature. Ideal for all reader ages, the book revels in the joy of nature, and the One who made it all.
A rhythmic meditation on the nature of God in the world, this book invites you to imagine God creating each element of nature, especially for the benefit of all creatures and plants that He lovingly made:
If God were a mighty whale, she’d make vast, mysterious oceans, wouldn’t she?
If God were a wiggly worm, he’d make fallen leaves and rotting trees and rich earth, wouldn’t he?
God also made several natural scenes for us to appreciate and look after:
- Rushing streams
- Mountains with caves
- Sun to warm flowers
- Red and orange trees
- Seas full of marine friends!
God is in all of Creation, and in you and me. God made a perfectly balanced interconnected world, not just for humans (to drill oil, fish and pollute) but for all animals and plants to thrive in.
Paul Harbridge is an award-winning children’s book author in Toronto, Canada. Surrounded by beautiful lakes and forests.
Illustrator Marta Dorado lives in Pamplona (Spain) where she enjoys exploring nature and the coast.
