In another surprising yet inspiring pronouncement that would make pet lovers smile with delight, Pope Francis said that the promise of an afterlife also awaits not only the faithful believers, but also animals!

"The Holy Scriptures teach us that the realization of this wonderful plan covers all that is around us, and that came out of the thought and the heart of God," The pope said as quoted by Italian newspaper, Resapubblica.

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The pope assured that the gates of "heaven is open to all creatures, and there [they] will be vested with the joy and love of God, without limits."

Pope Francis's beliefs with regards to animals is the total opposite of that of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, himself a cat lover, who said that an animal's existence is only as good as his life here on earth.  

That makes Pope Francis the first ever head of the Roman Catholic Church to make a pro-animal ideology.

Pope John Paul II held a close belief to Pope Francis, when he said that animals had "divine breath."

Since his installation as pope, Francis, whose papal name was adopted from St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the animals, has stood on his animal-friendly stance.

It could be remembered that his first homily explicated man's role in protecting every creature on earth and that includes animals.

"The vocation of being a 'protector,' however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as St. Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God's creatures and respecting the environment in which we live," the pope said.

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