Did he really say that? – Walking With Giants

Shared recently on Facebook was an image of Pope Francis and the following quote, attributed to him:-

It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person. In a way, the traditional notion of God is outdated. One can be spiritual but not religious. It is not necessary to go to church and give money — for many, nature can be a church. Some of the best people in history do not believe in God, while some of the worst deeds were done in His name.

Now there is some very slippery language here. In particular, it is not at all clear what the Pope means by ‘a good person’. Yes, there are some atheists who are kinder, gentler, and more caring than some religious people (shame on us!). And if that is all the Pope is saying, then it’s true.

But the Pope knows as well as I do that the challenge of the gospel is not to make ourselves ‘good enough for God’, but the ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ’. ‘Goodness’ must and will follow.

But a more basic question is this: Did the Pope ever say this? Although it’s impossible to prove that he didn’t (not everything that even a Pope says gets reliably recorded). But to my knowledge no source has ever been given for the quote (and it’s been floating around on social media since December 2014). Lesson: don’t believe everything you read on social media.

What we can say is that the Pope has demonstrated an unusual (I would say, worrying) level of inclusiveness. In a homily in May 2014, he said:-

The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class. We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all. And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: We need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: We will meet one another there.

More slippery language, I think. Maybe it’s a translation thing. Maybe he’s simply saying that Christians can make common cause with unbelievers on a range of moral and social issues. I have no problem at all with that.

But let Fr. Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman who helps to clarify the Pope’s statements for the English-speaking audience, explain what he means:-

This means that all salvation comes from Christ, the Head, through the Church which is his body. Hence they cannot be saved who, knowing the Church as founded by Christ and necessary for salvation, would refuse to enter her or remain in her. At the same time, thanks to Christ and to his Church, those who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ and his Church but sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, try to do his will as it is known through the dictates of conscience can attain eternal salvation.

Ah, so the Pope was talking about Karl Rahner’s ‘anonymous Christian’. Well, I’m not sure that he was. But let it rest.

Perhaps the key lesson to be learned is this: ‘Don’t believe anything you read on social media unless you can verify it.’

But some people will believe anything, if it suits them to do so.

See this article.