The pontificate of Pope Francis, which has now lasted for over eleven years, has been filled with controversies. The pontiff has on numerous occasions made off-the-cuff remarks which seemed to contradict the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, forcing Vatican officials to issue “clarifications” that emphasized that the pope was not a heretic and was not changing Catholic teaching. On Friday, he did it again, insisting that all religions were “like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for all.” Coming from the leader of a Church that claimed for centuries to be the only sure and true path to God, this was, to say the least, startling.
The Catholic Herald reported Friday that the pontiff “on Friday wrapped up a three-day visit to Singapore by declaring that ‘all religions are a path to God.’” The pope explained: “They are like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for all. Since God is God for all, then we are all children of God.”
The Catholic Herald noted that in saying this, the pope had set aside his prepared remarks and was speaking extemporaneously. He added: “If you start to fight, ‘my religion is more important than yours, mine is true and yours isn’t’, where will that lead us? There’s only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are [Sikh], Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and they are different paths [to God].”
At first glance, this appeared to contradict Jesus’ statement: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Scriptural passages of all faiths, however, can be interpreted in many different ways, and so while it may be possible to find a way to harmonize the pope’s words with those of Christ, it would be more difficult to reconcile Francis’ statement with the Roman Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council.
After detailing some of the similarities between the teachings of the Catholic Church and those of various non-Christian religions, the Council stated:
The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself….It is, therefore, the burden of the Church's preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows. (Nostra Aetate 2, 4)
If every grace flows from the cross of Christ, and in Christ “men may find the fullness of religious life,” it is hard to see how all religions are simply “different languages in order to arrive at God.”
Whether Pope Francis has contradicted the Second Vatican Council is a matter for Catholic theologians to decide. The question remains, however, whether his words could possibly hold true in any way. The different languages of the world, to which the world likens the different religions, have different ways to expressing various concepts, but they are not in conflict with one another. The different religions of the world, however, are another matter.
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Christianity, after all, affirms that Jesus is the Son of God. The Qur’an, meanwhile, declares that those who say that Jesus is the Son of God are under the divine curse (9:30). Jesus says: “the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” (John 16:2) Meanwhile, the Qur’an repeatedly instructs believers to kill non-believers “wherever you find them” (2:191; 4:89, 9:5).
These contradictory propositions, and there are many others like them, offer only three possibilities: Christianity is true and Islam isn’t, or Islam is true and Christianity isn’t, or they’re both false. They cannot, however, both be true. They also form fundamentally different kinds of human beings: if one devoutly believes that killing those outside the fold is the will of God and something that he rewards, he or she will behave differently from someone who doesn’t believe that.
Many Americans have been brought up to believe in propositions much like what Pope Francis stated: it is good to have a religious belief, but the content of that belief is unimportant. That is, however, a demonstrably false proposition. One hopes that the pope or Vatican officials will soon issue another “clarification.” It is much needed.
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