Pope Francis says a lot of things that make the left happy. Which is good. I want the followers of Jesus to reach out to the left. I want the left to know how much he loves them.
What’s hard for me is the “getting out ahead of God” that immediately seems to follow. Take, for example, an article that appeared today. I’m not going to link to it yet — not until after I’ve quoted their work. This is the complete quote that they printed from Pope Frances:
You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don’t believe and who don’t seek the faith. I start by saying – and this is the fundamental thing – that God’s 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.
Now, here is the headline that a newspaper editor wrote after reading that quote:
Pope Francis assures sceptics: You don’t have to believe in God to go to heaven —The Independent.
God loves people who don’t believe. God cherishes them, and forgives them. Jesus died for them — specifically out of his love for people who did not believe. Jesus, in fact, chose to lay down his life because of his love for people who were not born at the time, but who, when they were born, would not believe.
None of that is the same as saying “you don’t have to believe to go to heaven.”
I am glad that Pope Francis speaks out to the secular community. I love that he is opening whole new communities to hear about the love of Jesus.
I just wish people would hear what he says, instead of what they want to hear.