Roman Catholic Church
And the cat said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then shall your reins be removed, and ye shall decide the course of thine own destiny. And when the cat placed a paw upon the woman's wrist, the woman saw that it was a tree to be desired to make one free, and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they chose to walk to the edge of the garden, so that they may see more of the world than the Lord ordained.
The doctrine of the Catholic church claims that in the beginning, Adam and Eve were like animals, mindlessly following God's will. When Satan, disguised as a cat, snuck into the Garden of Eden, his influence enabled Eve to make the first choice in history: to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and in so doing, she fractured the bond between herself and God's plan.
She and Adam had made themselves capable of choosing actions, actions which could potentially go against the plan for the universe laid out by God on the first day of Creation. They were banished from the garden, and when they stepped outside, their soul guides appeared to walk beside them. Soul cats, which exist outside of life, are servants of Satan and tempt humans to stray from the Grand Tapestry . The Catholic church encourages humans to drive away their cats and live apart from them, as their presence corrupts fate and tempts mankind to make decisions counter to the Tapestry.
The church does not argue that free will does not exist, but that free will is an aberration. Making independent choices distances one from God and are only possible due to the proximity of a soul cat/satanic influence. The closer to God one becomes, the less their actions deviate from God's design.
In 1255, William of Rubruck, a Franciscan Friar, travelled to Central Asia and encountered many people of different faiths. He came to the idea that God offers forgiveness for all sins, and serving as psychopomps is how cats show penance for their role in the fall of man. When he returned to Europe, he began preaching about accepting soul cats and living alongside them, and that they are loyal servants of god who offer you comfort in your darkest hour. He was branded a heretic and burned at the stake.
He beliefs, though, had already caught on. This heresy led to the formation of a new church, the Arbitrium Church.
