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possess a soul and...men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren.

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fruit of the creative action of the Holy Spirit and merit respect

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as near to God as men are.

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the living quality that is the soul

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We, too, are called to a similar attitude.

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If our dignity is to be like God, it follows that the more we behave like God, the more we are ourselves. We can and must thank God for the beauty of a kid, a cat or a dog, as we do for the beauty of the sun, the moon and the rain (cf. Canticle of the Creatures). But that is not all. The Little Flowers of St Francis also recounts the episode of the wolf of Gubbio. This ferocious beast terrorized the region. The inhabitants asked Francis to intervene and he made an agreement with the animal; the farmers would feed it and, in return, it would no longer prey on their livestock. "And while Francis stretched out his hand to receive his pledge, the wolf raised its right forepaw and delicately placed it in his hand" (The Little Flowers, chap. 21).
This shows that holiness, the reconciliation of man with God, has a sort of magnetic force that attracts creation in a movement of overall reconciliation. This is clearly suggested by Holy Scripture. Does not the prophet Isaiah describe messianic times in these terms: "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.... The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp ... for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Is 11:6-9)? The "knowledge of the Lord": the Hebrew word suggests something carnal, like a communion of life; knowing the Lord means becoming in some way consubstantial with him. It also means being perfectly reconciled with creation. The restored harmony with the Creator thanks to the messianic child will be expressed in a new harmony with creation, to which the animal world also belongs. At the time of our definitive encounter with the Beloved, our hearts will be like his, so that all our past affections, however humble they may be, will find their place, having been purified, made right and ordered to him. For God, nothing human can be lost, not even the simple ties we have formed with the animal creatures, which filled, for example, our moments of loneliness.
If this is the case, we must repeat with the Catechism that man is not justified in "causing animals to suffer needlessly". He should therefore refrain from doing so if he can avoid it, or if there are no serious reasons for doing so. The right to feed one's family or large populations can certainly justify it, but not the profit motive alone. Moreover, to take pleasure in the suffering of a living creature is always unhealthy.
Physical suffering is the tangible sign of an attack on life; life is expressed as the biological support of relations. Now even should this seem somewhat cryptic, two categories of relationships can be distinguished: those we have with people and those we have with non-personal beings. A being with whom we can relate as to an end is a human or divine person.
An attack on life, suffering inflicted on the human being who is an end in himself, is not morally justifiable unless it enables the one suffering it (and possibly others as well) to live better, to intensify and improve his human relations, to draw nearer to God. In the case of animals, suffering cannot be legitimately inflicted except under similar conditions.
The dynamic of relations in the world has been corrupted by sin. In his struggle with sin, the Christian will tend to restore to them the sense of grace, of reasonable love for all living beings.
This observation can help to clarify the problem of entertainment involving violence to animals. These shows are often a celebration of colour and movement, and it is understandable that crowds are fascinated by the sight of human intelligence, triumphing over unleashed brute force. We can also understand that a sense of solidarity can result from them, of common feeling which, they think, justifies the sacrifice of the animal and the risk to man. But is this true solidarity? Do they really bring people together? Is there truly a collective purification of aggression in it? If the theory of "catharsis" were true, a society would be all the more peaceful the more brutal were its shows. Now we all know that the opposite is true. If this is so, every means must be used to achieve what represents the value of this entertainment without it being at the cost of the animal or the cause of excessive risks to man.
For, if holiness leads to reconciliation with nature, it is probable that reconciliation with nature, properly understood, fosters in turn better relations with God. Or, if the right relationship with God makes people just to others and kind to animals, kindness to animals could in turn reawaken sentiments of admiration and praise in the human heart for the great work of the Creator of the universe.

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