The Pope on animals

[Theo]

The "Quote of the Day" at andrewsullivan.com:

"At any rate, we can see that [animals] 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." - Pope Benedict XVI, on animal welfare, back in 2002.

http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_06_19_dish_archive.html#111927955928428261

 

[Nick]

That is quite respectable. To be honest, I was expecting something quite terrible. It's nice to be surprised now and then.

Very nice.

Now about those gays...

 

[Codreanu]

"[Agnes Heindl, the housekeeper for Benedict XVI's brother,] said that when [Benedict] was relaxing, there was never a mystery about what would make him laugh.

" 'Oh, cats,' she said. 'He loves them.'

"She pointed up a staircase to a wall full of painted plates, each depicting a different cat. The brothers collected the plates together, she said.

" 'When we were on vacation, a cat, a little kitten, would come by, and he'd be giddy, almost giggling with joy,' she said. 'Cats love him; they always go to him straight away. And he loves them back.' "