Why I am not convinced by my mentor’s defense of Pope Francis’ statements

Most faithful orthodox Catholics were still reeling from Pope Francis’ 13 September Singapore “all-religions-are-away-to-God”-comments, when the Holy Father decided to triple down in what could effectively be called a hat-trick of errors! 

Yes, kids! A measly four days later (17 September) the Vicar of Christ told young adults at a conference in Albania via video message that religious diversity is “a gift from God”. Correct. Instead of even attempting to save face regarding the 13 September comments, he, for a change unambiguously, drove the point home that by implication of his statements the Son of God, and His sacrifice on Calvary, was an exercise in futility. According to these statements, one could deduce that God the Father suffered a momentary relapse of reason and gifted the world the whole gamut of false religions.

(The Vatican did attempt to cover up the Pope’s statements in what could only be described as the greatest hack job in the history of PR. This little exercise in dishonesty only left them with egg on their face and worsened the situation when they tried to claim the Pope said something contrary to his actual statements. They were forced to release yet another, (slightly) more authentic translation).

During the video message on 17 September, the Pope asked the adolescents to “Contemplate the diversity of your traditions as a wealth, a wealth willed by God” and in typical bland new world order doublespeak that would have made George Orwell proud, proclaimed that “Unity is not uniformity,” and “the diversity of our cultural and religious identities is a gift from God.”

(Remember that Pope Francis stated a similar sentiment in 2019 in Abu Dhabi when he said in a joint statement with Islamic leaders that “The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race, and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings”.)

At this point, one could not be blamed for reaching for the liquor cabinet for a medicinal drink and a sigh of relief that it was all over. Nope, but it wasn’t all over.

On 24 September it was reported that also on 17 September, at the 38^th International Prayer Meeting for Peace, Pope Francis told a host of heretics, schismatics, and leaders of false religions that they must be guided by the “divine inspiration present in every faith”. Did I mention that the Pontiff “forgot” to mention either Catholicism or Jesus Christ to the 150 delegates from Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, and other religions?

He went on to claim that interreligious dialogue is “the vision our world needs today”. Erm, no Pope Francis, what the world desperately needs today is Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith’s dogmatic teachings. If I may borrow a phrase from the American Catholic journalist and commentator Eric Sammons and apply it to these cases of religious indifferentism, Pope Francis’ “vision” will only mean “We can hold hands on the way to hell”!

As I said in my previous posts, these statements don’t only exist somewhere in some clinical Catholic bubble far, far away without any effect on us in the trenches.

Ever since the Singapore statements, my father, who is a Protestant of the Pentecostal variety, has been bombarding me with videos by Protestant commentators. Of course, most of these contain the usual the Pope is the Anti-Christ/ the Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon/ Mary worship nonsense. Still, it also includes the very undefendable statements Pope Francis has made over the past two weeks. Thus, any attempts that I have been trying to make regarding explaining and defending the Faith, have been neutralised and my Protestant family and friends, even those who have been slightly warming to Catholicism, now feel vindicated and are even more confirmed in their erroneous beliefs.

A colleague, who I am sure had no malicious intent as we have never discussed religion before, also sent me a meme with Pope Francis's now infamous quote from Singapore, with the message: “I like what your leader has said, that is the way I also believe”. This broke my heart. This man, who is at best some moral therapeutic deist, a vaguely nominal “Christian”, has probably never even given Catholicism a second thought. For him, the novelty value of now knowing a convert from Protestantism (yours truly), must have piqued his interest a little and made him more sensitive to all things Catholic that might appear on his radar. And what is his biggest takeaway at this moment in time? The “leader” of Catholicism encourages religious pluralism.

My mentor, who was also my sponsor coming into Mother Church, and probably one of the living Catholics I respect most, found my previous article on the very subject of Pope Francis’ first statements (the ones made on 13 September) unpalatable, to say the least. I don’t want to go into his whole argument here, in the hope that he will maybe respond thoroughly with his own piece, but he did argue that “Throughout the years, Pope Francis has consistently and clearly taught that Jesus Christ is the only Savior of humanity and that faith in Him is necessary for salvation. This teaching remains unchanged and central to his preaching and writings”.

I beg to differ.

My dear, respected friend who I would describe as an orthodox moderate conservative Catholic, cited various examples to support this claim. In fairness to him, and to readers who might be unfamiliar with them, I list them here:

·          "The salvation which God offers us is the work of his mercy. No human efforts, however good they may be, can enable us to merit so great a gift. Only through faith in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, who died and rose for us, can we be justified and receive the gift of new life" (Evangelii Gaudium, §112, 2013).

·        "Only Christ, who took upon Himself our sins and justifies us before the Father, can bring salvation. There is no other name by which we can be saved. Only through Him can we be reconciled to God." (Homily, Casa Santa Marta, May 22, 2014)

·        “Christ is the light that dispels all darkness. His is the name given by God through whom all people may be saved. It is in Christ that the fullness of salvation is offered, and to Him we must direct our hearts, always." (Homily, Solemnity of the Epiphany, January 6, 2015)

·        "Jesus is the source of all hope and salvation. He alone bears the weight of the world’s sin, and in Him, we find our only way to redemption. Without Christ, we remain lost in the darkness of our sins." (Homily, St. Peter’s Basilica, April 27, 2016)

·       "Through his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has opened the door to salvation for all of humanity. No other sacrifice is needed, and no other path can bring us to eternal life but through Him. This is the truth of our faith." (General Audience, April 5, 2017)

·       "The Lord has saved us by his grace, and this salvation is offered to us through Jesus Christ. There is no way to holiness, to that life of grace, without Him. He is the way, the truth, and the life for every believer." (Gaudete et Exsultate, §62, 2018)

·        "Christ gave His life for all people, and His sacrifice is the sole bridge between humanity and God. To seek salvation in anything or anyone else is to stray from the truth." (Homily, February 9, 2019)

·        "Only through an encounter with Christ can the human heart be fully converted to the truth and love that lead to salvation. Christ, through His sacrifice and resurrection, is the only path to a truly redeemed and reconciled world." (Fratelli Tutti, §277, 2020)

·        "Jesus Christ is our one and only Savior, who by his death and resurrection brings salvation to all who believe in Him. There is no other way to the Father except through Him." (Angelus Address, June 20, 2021)

·       "Christ, who gave Himself for us, is the only Savior. His love is the foundation of our hope and the source of our salvation. The call to follow Him is essential for every person who desires true life." (World Day of the Poor Message, November 13, 2022)

·       "Jesus Christ calls us to Himself because He is the only way that leads to salvation. His love, poured out for us on the cross, is the only way we can be reconciled to God. In Him, we find all that we need for eternal life." (Message to World Youth Day Pilgrims, August 2023)

These statements might seem like my friend has a solid case, but I want to use two analogies (albeit limping) to show why it doesn’t cut it for me anymore.

Suppose a man marries a beautiful woman in 2013. In the first year of marriage, he often tells her he loves her, acts in a manner befitting a one-woman-man, and is faithful to the concept of marriage. He continues in this fashion in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. But then in 2019 he suddenly says it is ok not to be monogamous. His wife might be surprised, but she decides to ignore it. The man then seemingly continues to profess his love for his wife in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 but then in 2024 he states clearly that polygamy is ok. The woman and their friends are shocked and take him to task for this statement. But instead of apologising or retracting what he said, he keeps on repeating this to one and all.

His wife can now not help but worry about her husband’s unapologetic stance and his persistence in this line of thinking and will probably question his fidelity to her. She will likely feel doubts about the security of their marriage and feel that these statements might be a justification for some kind of adultery he has committed or a “soft landing” to adultery he will still commit.

Surely, based on the husband’s statements, one can conclude that he has changed his views about marriage at the very minimum. If the wife were to say, “But from 2013 until 2019, he always only professed his love for me alone, therefor he still believes in monogamy”, her friends would most likely scold her and possibly mock her for being naïve and dishonest with herself, due to her husbands more recent and contrary, unrepentant comments.

My second analogy involves myself. At one stage in my life, before Christ came looking for me, saved me, and led me into His Church, I held a host of beliefs which are completely contrary to what I now hold dear as an orthodox Catholic. I also professed and advocated for many of these beliefs. One of the causes I defended with almost religious zeal, was Anarchism as a valid political system. If you were to pour through my old journals, articles I wrote, and posts on various social media platforms you would be certain that I was indeed an anarchist of some sort and passionate about this conviction.

Compare that to what I profess today though, my current writings, what I say in conversations, and how I live my Catholic Faith, and you would know that I am no longer an anarchist. Not by far.

At what point did Catholics abandon good old-fashioned analytical reason based on the observance of reality? I guess in a time when men can fall pregnant, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck it must be a Coelacanth!

My point is that we cannot continue to use what Pope Francis used to teach, to defend his current, repeated erroneous (and may I risk saying, heretical) statements which are completely contrary to what he did teach and contrary to what the Catholic Church has taught for two millennia.

I am not going to speculate about the intentions of the Holy Father’s heart, but suffice to say, the fruits indicate something has changed and he no longer “clearly” teaches what he taught in the examples cited by my friend.

Sadly, it is not just a case of good old Bob down by the pub who has changed his soccer team or political affiliation with no consequence, but of the Vicar of Christ who is supposed to hold fast to the Faith and defend it.

Even more importantly. Pope Francis is supposed to lead the lost to the Savior, Jesus Christ. Not confuse them and confirm them in their error.