# nuns trapping cats



## sierra (Apr 21, 2005)

I saw this cross-posted on various sites. Thought I would include it here:
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--The Archdiocese appears to be turning away emails coming in about the cats. Please go to this page for more ways to reach them:

http://www.ny-archdiocese.org/more_info.html

Also, for info on how to contact the Vatican:
http://www.insidethevatican.com/contact-us.htm 

Thank you!
Bryan Kortis
Neighborhood Cats 



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For immediate release
Contact: Neighborhood Cats, Inc.
212-662-5761
[email protected]

What Happened to the "Cat" in Catholic?

(June 7, 2005) Newly elected Pope Benedict XVI's well-known love of stray cats apparently is not shared by the Dominican Nuns of the Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx, New York. The Mother Superior has ordered the removal of seven feral cats who are almost all neutered, rabies vaccinated and have lived on the monastery's five acres for the past 8 years. In a decision backed by the Archdiocese of NY, the plan is to first try to force the cats to leave by withholding all food and starving them. Then if they don't go on their own, the resident Sisters will trap them and hand them over to the city. Shelter workers would be forced to euthanize the cats because they are feral and unadoptable and have nowhere else to be placed.

The Vicar of the Religious Office for the Archdiocese, Sister Helen C., stated, "my compassion does not extend to these animals" and "they will be removed eventually, one way or another." 

"The plan is not only cruel for depriving these cats of their long-time home and causing their suffering and likely deaths, it is ineffective feral cat population control," said Bryan Kortis, Executive Director of Neighborhood Cats, a leading feral cat organization and a member of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals. "Maintaining neutered feral colonies, using a method known as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), is the only proven way to reduce feral numbers in the long term. Otherwise, new unneutered cats will simply replace the ones removed and the cycle of suffering and killing will go on indefinitely."

Over the past eight years, at their own expense, volunteers have removed nine cats from the grounds of the monastery and placed them in homes. The cats too wild to be adopted were neutered and returned, stopping their reproduction, and were then fed by the nuns. Now, however, the nuns and the Archdiocese refuse to even meet with animal advocates to discuss the situation.

To protest this heartless and ill-guided assault on the cats, please contact the Corpus Christi Monastery and the Archdiocese of NY by phone, email or fax (see below.) Let them know we expect more from our religious leaders than pointless cruelty towards innocent animals:

Corpus Christi Monastery
phone: 718-328-6996
fax: 718-328-1974
email: [email protected]

Archdiocese of NY
phone: 212-371-1000 (ask for Public Relations or the Vicar of the Religious Office)
fax: 212-826-6020
email: [email protected]

Act now! The cats have not been fed for five days and counting!!

From http://www.nunsopbronx.homestead.com/: (see above correction for address)
"The DOMINICAN NUNS of Corpus Christi Monastery, Bronx, New York, are a monastic community dedicated to a life of prayer and penance for the preaching mission of the Dominican Order and for the salvation of souls."

For more on Trap-Neuter-Return: http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

What a disappointment!  I have found almost all nuns to be extremely kind.


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## Darth Kleotus (May 27, 2005)

This sickens me. Such cruelety from fellow Christians, people who are supposed to be caring. I encourage you all to spread the word on this issue.


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## Darth Kleotus (May 27, 2005)

Looks like the problem is solved.


http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/06/1746474.php




> 7. Neighborhood Cats, IDA and Corpus Christi Nuns Reach Agreement:
> Cats to get New Home at Pets Alive Sanctuary!
> 
> Neighborhood Cats and In Defense of Animals (IDA) are happy to announce that we have reached a mutually acceptable agreement with the Dominican Nuns of the Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx, NY.
> ...


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

That's wonderful!


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## Birdbrain (Apr 29, 2005)

*http://www.goveg.com/feat/PopeBenedictXVI/*

.....check out this link...the new Pope is pro animal rights

http://www.catholic-animals.org/


Pope John Paul proclaimed that "the animals possess a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren."


Also....http://www.goveg.com/feat/PopeBenedictXVI/


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## sierra (Apr 21, 2005)

Re:
Pope John Paul proclaimed that "the animals possess a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller brethren." 

That comment was not attributed to the new pope but to his predecessor. Obviously, for nuns to have to trap feral cats- even if they were given to a cat sanctuary and not euthanized- because the new pope demanded it doesn't indicate " love" and " solidarity" even to a small degree.


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## Birdbrain (Apr 29, 2005)

I posted that in hast...sorry for the confusion.

I included the link to the statement by the current Pope in order to better arm those planning to contact that particular parish...it could very well be that the parish members are ignorant of his philosophy.

I included the quote by John Paul for those unaware that he also was sympathetic to the cause of animal welfare...( As I myself was prior to his death).

He recounted a story of a dream he had of homeless cats that were turned away by a Catholic Church in NYC, but eventually found refuge in an Anglican Church.

Also the link didn't work to this...here's an excerpt I've pasted....




Benedict XVI Continues Tradition of Papal Concern for Animals
Just hours after Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was named Pope Benedict XVI, PETA offered congratulations and urged His Holiness to include animals in the Catholic Church’s areas of concern. 

The new Pope has spoken movingly about the exploitation of all beings, particularly of farmed animals. When he was asked about the rights of animals in a 2002 interview, he said, "That is a very serious question. At any rate, we can see that they 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."

Cardinal Ratzinger was echoing official church teachings, as laid out in the Catholic Catechism, which states clearly that “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. . . . It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.”


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