I'm unsure; however, if you are looking for certain figureheads as a sort of representation of vegetarianism among Christian circles, there are quite a few actually.

ALF has a decent resource of "religious" quotes as well.

 

See: Christianity & Animals by The Reverend Professor Andrew Linzey.

Also Jesusveg.

 

might also check out The Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

http://www.all-creatures.org/cva/

sorry don't know about mother Theresa though

 

Interesting reading about Mother Theresa:

'Exposing Mother Teresa: Hitchens' Book A Devastating Insight. JOHN M. SWOMLEY debunks the myth of Mother Teresa, who has been unjustly built into a near-saint by the media, by way of a review of the book, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa In Theory And Practice, by Christopher Hitchens'

 

Extremely unlikely that she was.

The Roman Catholic church does not approve of vegetarianism. Animals are made for humans according to them, including for eating. The last Pope (John Paul II) made that quite clear in his writings.

 

I read in VegNews that Hitler was a vegetarian..but on wikipedia it says:

Quote:

According to many biographical sources, Adolf Hitler practiced some form of vegetarianism from the early 1930s until his death in 1945. The nature and extent of his vegetarianism is a matter of dispute, due in part to conflicting anecdotes, frequent changes in Hitler's diet, and the ideological implications of associating the Nazi leader with vegetarianism. There is a broad consensus that Hitler severely restricted his consumption of meat, though there is less agreement as to whether he ought to be regarded as a vegetarian in the modern sense.

he isn't a religious figure and it wouldnt help your argument. i just thought of it..

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bof

Interesting reading about Mother Theresa:

'Exposing Mother Teresa: Hitchens' Book A Devastating Insight. JOHN M. SWOMLEY debunks the myth of Mother Teresa, who has been unjustly built into a near-saint by the media, by way of a review of the book, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa In Theory And Practice, by Christopher Hitchens'

Here's some more reading on the dear mother: The pope beatifies Mother Teresa, a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by missmushroom

I read in VegNews that Hitler was a vegetarian..but on wikipedia it says:

he isn't a religious figure and it wouldnt help your argument. i just thought of it..

Do you happen to remember which issue of the magazine this was in?

People who eat meat (he was particularly fond of goose, it appears) = not vegetarians.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bof

Interesting reading about Mother Theresa:

'Exposing Mother Teresa: Hitchens Book A Devastating Insight. JOHN M. SWOMLEY debunks the myth of Mother Teresa, who has been unjustly built into a near-saint by the media, by way of a review of the book, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa In Theory And Practice, by Christopher Hitchens'

I suppose if someone were to write a book about me, you or anyone it could be written either to make us look like a saint or look like a lousy, no-good person. I'm guessing this book is an over-reaction to those who want to make a saint out of her.

It is a fact that she left her original order (group of nuns) to found this new order. She felt called to care for the poorest of the poor. She took care of people in India that others wanted to ignore. I'm sure if her order never became famous and that if she lived and died in obscurity she would've been quite happy. I don't think she handled her fame well but I'm sure she did the best she could and she did dedicate herself to taking care of people who were not being taken care of. That to me is her essense. She did receive treatment in fine hospitals for some of her health problems but she lived most of her life in simple poverty.

I've never heard of her being vegetarian. Some of the stricter orders in the Catholic Church will give up meat as a way of self-denial -- most of those orders allow for meat (like chicken soup) if one gets ill. I don't think there is a single order (including the Francisians) who give up meat out of concern for animals.

But there is hope.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diana

Extremely unlikely that she was.

The Roman Catholic church does not approve of vegetarianism. Animals are made for humans according to them, including for eating. The last Pope (John Paul II) made that quite clear in his writings.

Hmmm...that explains a lot of why my mom doesn't become a vegetarian. Bummer.

Even St. Francis of Assisi wasn't a vegetarian, but he did follow an ascetic diet, which eschews the killing and harming of animals. He suffered from osteomalacia because of it.

 

The current teaching on animals in the Catholic Church:

Quote:

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

2415 The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animal, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present and future humanity. Use of the mineral, vegetable and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for the moral imperatives. Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by the concern for the quality of life of his neighbour, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation.

2416 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.

2417 God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image. Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. They may be domesticated to help man in his work and leisure. Medical and scientific experimentation on animals, if it remains within reasonable limits, is a morally acceptable practice since it contributes to caring for or saving human lives.

2418 It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons.

2457 Animals are entrusted to man's stewardship; he must show them kindness. They may be used to serve the just satisfaction of man's needs.

 

My favourite story of Saint Francis:

Quote:

Once when St. Francis and his companions were passing through the Marches of Ancona, he met a man on his way to market carrying two little lambs over his shoulder. When Blessed Francis heard their bleating, he was filled with compassion. He went up to the lambs and touched them compassionately like a mother over her weeping child. Then he said to the man, "Why are you torturing my brother lambs, binding their feet this way and hanging them over your shoulder?"

"I am taking them to market to sell them because I need the money."

"And what will happen to them there?" asked Francis.

"Why, whoever buys them will slaughter them and eat them of course."

"God forbid! This must not happen. Here take this mantle in exchange, and give me the lambs."

Then, since the mantle was worth more than the lambs, the man quickly made the exchange.

Now Francis had borrowed the mantle that very day, because it was very cold. And so when he was trying to determine what to do about the lambs he consulted with his companion, and then decided to give them to the man who'd lent him the mantle. He told the man to take care of the lambs and commanded him never to sell them or harm them, but to keep them and feed them and care for them conscientiously.

--Celano, First Life, 79

From the book, "Through the Year with Francis of Assisi" by Murray Bodo

St. Francis apparently ate meat out of concern for "gospel purity". Jesus told his disciples to eat what was given them. But if everyone followed St. Francis' example there wouldn't be any meat to eat.

 

In the Catechism where I quoted above it says: we should recall the gentleness with which St. Philip Neri treated animals. He was vegetarian.

Quote:

From Apostle of Rome by Meriol Trevor. (1966 Macmillan and Company Limited)

From page 92-93:

Loys Ames told how he and Ludovico Parisi, a young Florentine tailor who worked in the firm of Gherard the Fleming, had once given Philip three birds in a cage, two canaries and a finch. Philip was very fond of animals of all kinds. One day he said, "Take the cage away and see if they'll come back." So Loys went off and let the birds out. When he came back, there was the finch perched on Philip's shoulder and pecking at his beard. "Does he do this to you, this bird?" Philip asked him. "No," said Loys. Philip chased the finch away several times, but it always came back, either to his beard or his foot. The birds lived with him for years, for they, or their successors, were brought out in 1569 to cheer the last days of Philip's friend Costanzo Tassone.

Philip's compassion for animals surprised his friends. It was like him to let his birds out of the cage. When mice were caught he could not bear them to be killed, but he had them taken outside in the traps and set free in the sheep byres or stables. To see anyone ill-treating animals agonized and angered him. He hated to pass butchers' shops and see the animals that were to be killed -- after all, he ate no meat himself. "He suffered when he saw them alive and knew they must be killed, as if he had seem them suffer," said Antonio Galliono. He rebuked anyone he saw beating an animal; wanton cruelty exasperated him. Seeing a butcher wound a dog with a knife he cried out in horror, "O poveri animali! O poveri animali!" "Poor creatures!"

...

From page 294-295:

Eager as he was to have some wonder to tell, Francesco Zazzara actually did something much better, by relating everything he could remember, however minute. Some time after the chapel on the stairs was built in 1593 he went in to get it ready for mass and found a young bird in there; he took it to show the padre. "Don't squeeze it," said Philip anxiously, "don't hurt it. Open the window and let it fly away." Presently he asked Francesco, "What did you do with that little bird?" Francesco said he had let it go. Philip was quite worried, wondering if he ought to have kept it after all, "It was so very small; it won't know where to go."

It is easy to be kind to birds, but flies are another matter. Once when flies were bothering the old man, Francesco wanted to carry out a massacre. "Don't kill them," said the padre. "Open the window and chase them out with a cloak."

...

In spite of his age and increasing fragility Philip still went out a good deal, to visit sick friends and take gifts of food, clothes and money where they were needed. He was always so cheerful and warm, Francesco said, and treated the poorest like gran signori. Often the charitable visits took so long that they did not get home till after dark. When they went out Francesco noticed that Philip never spent long in the churches they passed, but simply said a Pater and Ave and came away again. As they walked along the streets he was often abstracted and told whoever was with him to jog him if they passed someone he ought to greet. He hated to go past the butchers' shops, where the animals were killed. "If everyone were like me, they wouldn't kill animals," he said, referring to his vegetarian diet.

It was one of the trials of Philip's old age that whenever he was ill the doctors would order him to eat meat. He hated it and only made the attempt because he believed he ought to obey the doctors. "They give me too much to eat," he used to say to Francesco, and to the doctors, "You think you are doing me good but you aren't." Everyone, of course, thought how virtuous this was, but it was probably the literal truth. It must have been difficult for the old man to manage food which he had not eaten willingly since he was about twenty years old.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ktea79

Does anyone know if Mother Teresa was a vegetarian or spoke out for loving animals?

Any resources you find would help. I am a vegetarian and in a debate about this with a religious meat-eating family member.

Thanks!

You could ask this person why God created us to be vegan (according to the bible).

I'll quote a couple of my recent posts:

Actually your literal interpretation of the bible is faulty. Animals were not created for our use, according to the bible. I suggest you reread Genisis. And note that right after God gives humans dominion over animals God gives humanity a vegan diet. Right after that God says it's "very good". Read it.

The first time God explicitly allows for the killing of animals for food was in Genisis 9 and at that time the animals were made to be very fearful of humans, a marked departure of the paradise God created in the Garden of Eden. Isaiah envisions a time when paradise will return (the wolf will lie down with the lamb...) -- shouldn't Christians be trying to live out that peacefullness that God created in the Garden of Eden and that God told us would return in time? We cannot be perfect yet Jesus urges us to "be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect".

Now you'll say "but Jesus ate fish". Yes, Jesus lived the lifestlye of the people around him. Jesus challenged the people in some areas but not in other areas. Why would he do this? He tells us in John 16:12-13 "I have much more to tell (teach) you but you cannot bear it now". Perhaps that wasn't the right time for Animal Rights teachings. Just as Jesus never once spoke out against slavery. In fact he healed the centurian's slave without demanding the slave's freedom. And for some 1400 years the Christian church also argued in favour of slavery. But then I think the Holy Spirit went to work and changed the hearts and minds of many Christians and an anti-slavery movement gained momentum. And yet all through the bible there is never any teaching that forbids slavery in every form.

and this one where I quote mainly from the Christian Vegetarian Assocation:

Does the Bible support vegetarianism?

The Bible depicts vegetarianism as God's ideal, and the diet conforms to the central biblical principle of steward-ship. In Eden, all creatures lived peacefully, and God told both humans and animals to consume only plant foods (Gen. 1:29-31). Several prophecies, such as Isaiah 11:6-9, foresee a return to this vegetarian world, where the wolf, lamb, lion, cow, bear, snake, and little child all coexist peacefully. Christian vegetarians, while acknowledging human sinfulness, believe we should strive toward the harmonious world Isaiah envisioned-to try to live in accordance with the prayer that Jesus taught us, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10).

...

Why did God give Noah permission to eat meat (Gen. 9:2-4)?

Virtually all plants were destroyed by the Flood. Alternatively, God may have allowed Noah limited freedom to express human violence, since unrestrained violence was responsible for the Flood itself (Gen. 6:11-13). Importantly, this passage neither commands meat eating nor indicates that the practice is God's ideal. Indeed, eating meat came with a curse-animals would no longer be humanity's friends: "The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast…" (Gen. 9:2). While eating meat was not prohibited, it represented a complete break from God's ideal of animals and humans living peacefully together, as depicted in Eden and by the prophets.

and they make the same health point as you do:

Your Health

The  apostle Paul wrote that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), and it follows that we should care for our bodies as gifts from God. The largest organization of food and nutrition professionals in the United States, the American Dietetic Association, has endorsed well-planned vegetarian diets. In 2003, the ADA noted, "Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer."

http://www.all-creatures.org/cva/honoring.htm

 

St. Philip Neri is my kind of saint!

 

i do not know if mother theresa was a vegetarian per se, but she could very well have been.

a lot of the missionaries of charity are vegetarians--simply because the diet of simplicity (commonly used among various religious orders) is largely or commonly vegetarian.

i know that many types of cloistered monks and nuns are typically vegetarians--particularly cistercians. they will only eat meat if it will help them deal with illness--though they are ovo-lacto vegetarians.

so, whether mother theresa was or not i cannot say, but i do know that when i work/ed with the MCs, they commonly ate very simple, vegetarian fare. that is, i never saw them eating meat. but it never occurred to me to ask about it.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bof

Interesting reading about Mother Theresa:

'Exposing Mother Teresa: Hitchens' Book A Devastating Insight. JOHN M. SWOMLEY debunks the myth of Mother Teresa, who has been unjustly built into a near-saint by the media, by way of a review of the book, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa In Theory And Practice, by Christopher Hitchens'

Sunday comes and all the papers will say

Ma Teresa's joined the mob

And's happy with her full time job...

 

"If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies, or capitalists for the same reasons."

- C.S. Lewis

"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."

- Immanuel Kant

"If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large."

- William Wilberforce

"And if your heart is straight with God, then every creature shall be to you a mirror of life and a book of holy doctrine, for there is no creature so little or so vile, that he does not represent the goodness of God."

- Thomas Kempis

"It is in the battery shed that we find the parallel with Auschwitz....To shut your mind, heart and imagination from the sufferings of others is to begin slowly, but inexorably, to die. Those Christians who close their minds and hearts to the cause of animal welfare, and the evils it seeks to combat, are ignoring the Fundamental spiritual teachings of Christ himself."

- Rev. Dr. John Austin Baker (Bishop of Salisbury, England, 1985)

"And what is a merciful heart? It is the hearts burning for the sake of the entire creation, for men, for birds, for animals, for demons and for every created thing; and by the recollection and sight of them the eyes of a merciful man pour forth abundant tears. From the strong and vehement mercy which grips his heart and from his great compassion, his heart is humbled and he cannot bear to hear or see any injury or slight sorrow in creation. For this reason he continually offers up tearful prayer, even for irrational beasts, for the enemies of the truth and for those who harm him, that they be protected and receive mercy. And in like manner he even prays for the family of reptiles because of the great compassion that burns in his heart without measure in the likeness of God."

St. Isaac of Nineveh

I believe in my heart that faith in Jesus Christ can and will lead us beyond an exclusive concern for the well-being of other human beings to the broader concern for the well-being of the birds in our backyards, the fish in our rivers, and every living creature on the face of the earth.

- John Wesley

"A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral."

- Leo Tolstoy

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Sun

In the Catechism where I quoted above it says: we should recall the gentleness with which St. Philip Neri treated animals. He was vegetarian.

Yeah but besides that point, it was pretty anti-AR.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by IamJen

Do you happen to remember which issue of the magazine this was in?

People who eat meat (he was particularly fond of goose, it appears) = not vegetarians.

I believe it was July/August

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by missmushroom

I read in VegNews that Hitler was a vegetarian..

Hitler loved to eat stuffed baby pigeons and was not vegetarian by any definition. See Rynn Berry's article.

 

Look, up to his death, Hitler's cook cooked him sausages and birds. Read the history books instead of relying on websites who get their information from websites who get their information from websites who talk crap.

And even if he HAD been vegetarian, what the ****'s difference would that make???

 

nm

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by missmushroom

I believe it was July/August

Hm. I shall have to hunt for that. This kind of rubbish shouldn't be put forth by VegNews.

However, I'm not surprised. The August issue contained a couple of goofy things that made IS and I chuckle. Our favorite was how the Netherlands was now a Scandinavian country.

There was little to like in the issue we purchased. I was very disappointed.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diana

Look, up to his death, Hitler's cook cooked him sausages and birds. Read the history books instead of relying on websites who get their information from websites who get their information from websites who talk crap.

And even if he HAD been vegetarian, what the ****'s difference would that make???

Well I think he was just a some times veg and I dont know what his last meal was .....and I dont really care

http://www.veggieboards.com/boards/s...&postcount=189