the Church should become more involved – Swiss Catholic Portal

German theologian Sebastian Knapp believes that the Church should develop its pastoral support for people bereaved by the death of a domestic animal.

Animal burials are all the rage. What behavior should the Church adopt in the face of this observation? For Sebastian Knapp, of the Institute of Theological Zoology at the University of Münster, the Church assumes too little of its responsibility towards these bereaved people.

Animal burials already existed in ancient Egypt and clan leaders in the Middle Ages took their horses with them to their graves, he recalled on the Catholic multimedia portal of the Archbishopric of Cologne domradio.de. Today, animal burials are very popular again. It would therefore be a good thing if the Church turned more towards the people concerned.

160 animal cemeteries in Germany

According to the Federal Association of German Funeral Directors, there are around 160 animal cemeteries in Germany, in which around 10,000 pets are buried each year. In addition, the first pilot projects for human-animal burials (the pet and its owner are buried in a common grave) have been set up. The German theologian pleads for more understanding in this regard. “For many people, the animal is almost their only interlocutor,” he recalls. Such a burial is then a sign of this attachment, “like others have family graves. Animals are thus valued as true members of the family.”

The fact that some people within the Church already take on pastoral responsibility for the burial of animals is already, according to him, a “huge sign” of this development. (cath.ch/kath.ch/kna/domradio/lb)