I have just finished Devil’s Cave by Martin Walker. It was a warm cosy book and a good crime thriller but with a bit too much food and cooking featured for my taste. I won’t be rushing out to buy another of his books, but would definitely read more of them if I stumbled over them by chance. Note cat hair on book.
Said cat hair came from Catrick, who was cuddling in the crook of my arm as I read
These two pages really stayed with me:
I had exactly the same experience as a child. I grew up in a staunchly devout Catholic household and attended a Catholic convent school for 12 years. My parents and the nuns told me very early that animals could not go to heaven because they had no souls. I have loved animals since I had the capacity to love and have had pets constantly since I was 3 years old. As a child I did not want to believe that such creatures could not join us in heaven. It damaged any potential I had for deep faith. Which is quite ironic because Pope Francis (who was amazing in my opinion) comforted a child grieving her dog by saying One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ“. While not a formal declaration of Catholic doctrine, this was taken to mean the total opposite of what I was taught.
This part in the book really spoke to me. I know it is a fictional tale, but how many people turned away from Catholicism due to that? For me, my lack of faith and lapse is complicated (arising mostly because of how many of my devout family members suffered before dying one by one over 18 months), but animals did play a factor. I don’t want to go anywhere where there are no animals.