Pope Francis Assures Atheists You Don T Have To Believe in God To Go To Heaven Europe World The Independent

Pope Francis assures atheists: You dont have to believe in God to go to heaven - Europe - World - The Independent
9/12/13 3:41 PM
Thursday 12 September 2013
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Pope Francis assures atheists: You dont have to

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Pope Francis assures atheists:

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In comments likely to enhance his progressive

reputation, Pope Francis has written a long, open
letter to the founder of La Repubblica newspaper,
Eugenio Scalfari, stating that non-believers would
be forgiven by God if they followed their
consciences.
Responding to a list of questions published in the
paper by Mr Scalfari, who is not a Roman Catholic,
Francis wrote: You ask me if the God of the
Christians forgives those who dont believe and who
dont seek the faith. I start by saying and this is
the fundamental thing that Gods mercy has no
limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite
heart. The issue for those who do not believe in God
is to obey their conscience.
Sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when
people disobey their conscience.
Robert Mickens, the Vatican correspondent for the
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Catholic journal The Tablet, said the pontiffs

comments were further evidence of his attempts to
shake off the Catholic Churchs fusty image,
reinforced by his extremely conservative
predecessor Benedict XVI. Francis is a still a
conservative, said Mr Mickens. But what this is all
about is him seeking to have a more meaningful
dialogue with the world.
In a welcoming response to the letter, Mr Scalfari
said the Popes comments were further evidence of
his ability and desire to overcome barriers in
dialogue with all.
Francis suggests they

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In July, Francis signalled a more progressive attitude on sexuality, asking: If

someone is gay and is looking for the Lord, who am I to judge him?
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ajhnson 4 minutes ago
Pope Francis is "Peter the Roman". He is preaching another

doctrine. A doctrine that will lead many to hell. The only
father I have and pray to is my Heavenly Father.
3
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Page 2 of 11
Reply
9/12/13 3:41 PM
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BalsterFudd357 > ajhnson 3 minutes ago
Amen! Brother/Sister!
Reply
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nawtyuh 4 minutes ago
Oh yeah!! We can go somewhere we don't even believe

exists. Go us! Thanks, Pope. You're awesome.
1
Reply
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Hugh Beaumont 5 minutes ago
This is not as easy as it looks. An atheist has a conscience

just as a Christian. A Christian will follow his conscience
because he knows it contains the law written on man's
heart. But when an atheist is tempted (as we all are) to
violate his conscience, it will be difficult for him to resist,
because his intellect will ask, "Why not?" So yes, an atheist
who obeys his conscience can get to heaven - but how many
are there? PS to atheists - when we speak of conscience, you
can only speak for yourself - not others.
Reply
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orlandocajun 6 minutes ago
It doesn't really matter...anyone who doesn't believe in a

God doesn't believe in a heaven either, so they have nothing
but upside potential!
Reply
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Show 1 new reply
BalsterFudd357 > orlandocajun 4 minutes ago
...I would rather believe in God and Heaven to die

and be wrong...than believe NOT and die to hell...
1
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DaGeek 7 minutes ago
Your Holiness, then pray tell - what is the point of

evangelisation???
1
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DaGeek 8 minutes ago
Holy Father, with all due respect, the 9/11 terrorists were
arguably "following their consciences," doing what they
believed to be right. I hope you're not abandoning the ageold belief that there is objective good and evil and adopting
moral relativism? If that is the case, I would argue that the
Cardinals have made a grave error in the conclave!
Our Lord said that His way is narrow and the road to
destruction is broad. Please square that, your Holiness, with
what you've just taught!!
2
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RadicalRight > DaGeek 5 minutes ago
So not only do you believe in a fairy in the sky you

also believe the pope reads these threads, deluded
does not cover it with you does it?
Page 3 of 11
Reply
9/12/13 3:41 PM
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likelywrong 9 minutes ago
i am not sure i would want to go to heaven. i would be

trapped with endless " i told you so "s. unbearable.
2
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Obvious 15 minutes ago
Romans 1 says it better than I could:

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against
all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress
the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known
about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain
to them. 20 For since the creation of the world Gods
invisible qualitieshis eternal power and divine nature
have been clearly seen, being understood from what has
been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him
as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became
futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although
they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and
exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made
to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals
and reptiles.
see more
Reply
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Obvious > Obvious 7 minutes ago
That said, I find the comment confusing. He might

be talking about they will be forgiven once they turn
in repentance.
As to the homosexual judgment, I understood that
he was given the keys to heaven to judge according to
the Church. I know for certain we are called to judge
the actions of those within the church, though not
those without (1 Corinthians 5).
Reply
Share
timtherabbit > Obvious 8 minutes ago
Beautiful. We all have a conscience and therefore

cannot claim ignorance as an excuse for our sins.
"For since the creation of the world Gods invisible
qualitieshis eternal power and divine naturehave
been clearly seen, being understood from what has
been made, so that people are without excuse." Rom.
1:20
Reply
Share
Gina101 15 minutes ago
In July, Francis signalled a more progressive attitude on

sexuality, asking: If someone is gay and is looking for the
Page 4 of 11
9/12/13 3:41 PM
sexuality, asking: If someone is gay and is looking for the

Lord, who am I to judge him?
Facepalm. Uh, no. "Looking for the Lord" means living
chastely according to God's Will, fighting the disorder, not
living in sin and presuming salvation. The Holy Father
teaches nothing different from what the Church teaches.
3
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timtherabbit 30 minutes ago
Be careful. This is a hit job. The message is that God gives us

all a conscience, and by following that, and approaching
God with a sincere and contrite heart, we receive his infinite
Mercy. Furthermore, atheists sin despite their non-belief
because they have a conscience.
2
Reply
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Andrew Arnold 31 minutes ago
Oh man, you Christians gotta be a little miffed here. All us

good, moral atheists just got a deluxe 'get out of hell free'
card from the Pope, that's really gotta burn your biscuits!
7
Reply
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DaGeek > Andrew Arnold 11 minutes ago
So, you are repenting of your sins?

1
Reply
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jakespoon > Andrew Arnold 16 minutes ago
Last time I talked with God,the pope wasn't even

mentioned.Better not take his word for it.
5
Reply
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BalsterFudd357 > Andrew Arnold 17 minutes ago
The Pope needs to read about Lazarus the begger

and the wealthy man.
2
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UnderGodNotGovt > Andrew Arnold 21 minutes ago
How does the atheist approach God with a contrite

heart if he doesn't believe in God? What the Pope
actually said was the atheist must come to a belief in
God - sounds like repentance to me. That is the path
everyone must follow to reconcile their lives with
God.
6
Reply
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RadicalRight > UnderGodNotGovt

12 minutes ago
Well if god wants to reconcile his life with me

he will have to alter his ways. How long has
this pervert watched his holy men rape
children, politicians confuse and lie to us
sending our young men to die for them,
create creatures that slowly rob children of
Page 5 of 11
9/12/13 3:41 PM
create creatures that slowly rob children of

their sight in a painful manner before they
have had time to sin.
He had better show some compassion before
I release him from hell the sick sadist.
Reply
Share
Andrew Arnold > UnderGodNotGovt

14 minutes ago
The day God reveals himself to me, I'll be his

most fervent servant. But until then, I don't
believe that a bunch of 'fresh out of the cave'
primitive people wrote a book that explains
the whole universe, existence and creation,
especially when they couldn't even figure out
that a sneeze wasn't some demon trying to
steal your soul.
1
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Obvious > Andrew Arnold 2 minutes ago
This passage from Romans 1 shows

that He has revealed Himself through
His creation. You are without excuse.
18 The wrath of God is being revealed
from heaven against all the
godlessness and wickedness of people,
who suppress the truth by their
wickedness, 19 since what may be
known about God is plain to them,
because God has made it plain to
them. 20 For since the creation of the
world Gods invisible qualitieshis
eternal power and divine naturehave
been clearly seen, being understood
from what has been made, so that
people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they
see more
Reply
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ajhnson > Andrew Arnold 6 minutes ago
Your problem is that you're lost. You

cannot discern the things of God nor
can you understand that the Holy
Bible was written by man but inspired
by the Holy Spirit. For thousands of
years man has tried his best to debunk
the scriptures but has miserably
failed. You are no different.
2
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RadicalRight > ajhnson 3 minutes ago

Page 6 of 11
9/12/13 3:41 PM
RadicalRight > ajhnson 3 minutes ago
Quick nurse this one has got it bad!
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Tugboat25 > UnderGodNotGovt 16 minutes ago
I think the Pope means that a non-believer

dies and ultimately meets God. He/She is
shown God's existence at that moment. Then
they can join God if they lived a good and
decent life, even without an earthly faith.
1
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jakespoon > Tugboat25 13 minutes ago
Not what the Gospels say. If you leave

here in unbelief, you lift your eyes in
Hell. Not my rules,but God's. The
Pope can't change it.
3
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RadicalRight > jakespoon

9 minutes ago
Bit of a jobs worth them mate.
Reply
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jakespoon > RadicalRight 7 minutes ago
I don't understand.
Reply
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Tugboat25 > jakespoon 12 minutes ago
I commented on the Pope's statement.

I have no idea what happens with
God's judgement (and neither do you).
1
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jakespoon > Tugboat25 8 minutes ago
Read His book. If you have then you

should know. Jesus died for our
redemption. If there was another way,
why was he crucified?God is not a
respecter of person. You can't work
your way there.
1
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BalsterFudd357 > jakespoon

6 minutes ago
" You can't work your way there."

Unless your a Mormon...
1
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Page 7 of 11
9/12/13 3:41 PM
timtherabbit > UnderGodNotGovt

16 minutes ago
And the conscience, a basic sense of good and

evil, can provide that path as it is a gift from
God.
1
Reply
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Vennoye > Andrew Arnold 21 minutes ago
Better hope he (the Pope) is the one at the gate when

you get there.
4
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Towelie > Vennoye 21 minutes ago
I'll just wait until it's his shift

1
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timtherabbit > Andrew Arnold 24 minutes ago
In fact, you received a gentle admonition to follow

your conscience. The atheist can still sin because
each person receives a conscience from God. Yet by
following one's conscience, and approaching God
with a contrite heart, one will receive His infinite
Mercy.
1
Reply
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jesse > Andrew Arnold 24 minutes ago
The card will burn. Don't trust it.
Reply
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jackisback3164 32 minutes ago
This isn't novel and it isn't new news. It is old news. How
old? About two thousand years old. The notion that our
Pope expressed in his article is the same, fundamentally, as
that expressed by St. Paul in his epistles. Paul repeats
frequently the notion that Christ died, once, for all - Jew and
gentile alike ("gentile" meaning non-Jew - in other words,
everyone else). No distinction was made at that time by Paul
between "believers and non-believers" and the Catholic
Church has always recognized that this was purposeful.
Indeed, this is the "good news," that salvation is no longer
solely for the Jews, it is for everyone, because an all merciful
God sacrificed his only son to make a covenant with all of
us, a covenant that we could not break, and both Jews and
gentiles served as instruments in that sacrifice (some
unwittingly so).
Also, one would be hard-pressed to find any quote or
written word from ANY previous Pope (including the
recently resigned Benedict) in contradiction with this
concept.
It has been the Catholic Church's singular goal to spread
this "good news" throughout the world. I think it is
profoundly sad that the founder of La Repubblica had never
heard about this in his lifetime, to the point that he needed
to ask the new Pope about it.
4
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Page 8 of 11
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9/12/13 3:41 PM
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Chaylon 32 minutes ago
At no point in this article did the Pope say or even indicate

that "You dont have to believe in God to go to heaven", as
the heading suggests.
6
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BalsterFudd357 > Chaylon 22 minutes ago
stating that non-believers would be forgiven by God

if they followed their consciences.
Sounds like it me....
2
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Chaylon > BalsterFudd357 20 minutes ago
Balster, He did NOT say that non-believers

would be forgiven by God if they followed
their consciences. He simply said that "the
issue" would be for them to do so.
2
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Magwheelz > Chaylon 25 minutes ago
Not those exact words..but "The issue for those who

do not believe in God is to obey their conscience."
3
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Chaylon > Magwheelz 24 minutes ago
Mag, as a Christian myself, I also would

counsel an unbeliever to obey his conscience.
If we could get the "world" to do even that, it
would be a better place to live. Don't you
think?
2
Reply
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eugenitron > Chaylon 20 minutes ago
Dangerous advice: do you think that

the more radical and extreme
elements at work in the world today
are not obeying their consciences,
those waging holy wars and jihads for
example?
3
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Gina101 > eugenitron 7 minutes ago
Exactly. Because there are sociopaths

with malformed consciences.
1
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Chaylon > eugenitron 15 minutes ago
Eugenitron, I am in full agreement

with your sentiment here. Some
Page 9 of 11
9/12/13 3:41 PM
with your sentiment here. Some

minority of people's consciences are
hardened or seared, and yes, they we
would want to "lock up" (I jest) as
opposed to asking them to obey their
conscience. So yes, I agree with you
and I would never have said such a
thing myself. I am just here defending
my original post: the Pope at no point,
said that "You dont have to believe in
God to go to heaven".
1
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jackisback3164 > Chaylon 27 minutes ago
True enough, but he did say that it was up to God an all merciful God - to make the determination. As
well, he reminded us that God's mercy has no limits.
Re-read the parable of the prodigal son for a good
metaphor for how this works.
1
Reply
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Obvious > jackisback3164 17 minutes ago
Yes, but the son came home. He didn't stay

away. We all have the inheritance, but we
have to come and partake of it w/ the Father.
1
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Chaylon > Obvious 13 minutes ago
Agreed, we only come to God in

repentance and faith in Christ. No
other way.
2
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Chaylon > jackisback3164 26 minutes ago
I have no bone to pick with what you are

saying. Did you have one with my comment?
1
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Thursday 12 September 2013

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Pope Francis assures atheists: You dont have to

Advanced Search Article archive Topics

The top 10 cities in the world

MILAN WEDNESDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2013

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Pope Francis assures atheists:

Assad: We will hand

US alligator hunters break

Mirror titles face

In comments likely to enhance his progressive

Jerome Taylor: Pope

Front End Developer

Clinical Negligence Solicitor

Corporate Commercial Solicitor

Catholic journal The Tablet, said the pontiffs

Francis suggests they

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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

In July, Francis signalled a more progressive attitude on sexuality, asking: If

Tom Hanks' jury

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Why U.S. Growth is Far Outpacing

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Show One New Comment

ajhnson 4 minutes ago

Pope Francis is "Peter the Roman". He is preaching another

BalsterFudd357 > ajhnson 3 minutes ago

nawtyuh 4 minutes ago

Oh yeah!! We can go somewhere we don't even believe

Hugh Beaumont 5 minutes ago

This is not as easy as it looks. An atheist has a conscience

orlandocajun 6 minutes ago

It doesn't really matter...anyone who doesn't believe in a

Show 1 new reply

BalsterFudd357 > orlandocajun 4 minutes ago

...I would rather believe in God and Heaven to die

DaGeek 7 minutes ago

Your Holiness, then pray tell - what is the point of

DaGeek 8 minutes ago

RadicalRight > DaGeek 5 minutes ago

So not only do you believe in a fairy in the sky you

likelywrong 9 minutes ago

i am not sure i would want to go to heaven. i would be

Obvious 15 minutes ago