Friedrich writes, “On behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 2 million members and supporters worldwide, we applaud your strong exhortations for environmental protection, and we urge you to consider the fact that the most effective action an individual can take to fight climate change is to go vegan (which means not consuming poultry, fish, meat, eggs or dairy products).”
In 2002, when Pope Benedict XVI was known to the world as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he was asked by German journalist, Peter Seewald, “Are we allowed to make use of animals, and even to eat them?”
The current-day pontiff responded, “That is a very serious question. At any rate, we can see that they are given into our care, that we cannot just do whatever we want with them. Animals, too, are God's creatures. Certainly, a sort of industrial use of creatures, so that geese are fed in such a way as to produce as large a liver as possible, or hens live so packed together that they become just caricatures of birds, this degrading of living creatures to a commodity seems to me in fact to contradict the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible.”
In addition to this remark criticizing factory farms Pope Benedict XVI has expressed the importance of protecting animals. His statements echo official church teachings laid out in the Catholic Catechism, “Animals are God's creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals (n. 2416).”
With the highest of authorities on Catholic teachings previously addressing human’s relationship with animals and the degrading aspect of factory farming, it seems the next logical step would be to take PETA’s recommendations in consideration and adopt a cruelty-free diet. Follow me on Twitter
