What did he mean by this?

What did he mean by this?

He never actually said this. The headline is a lie.

Ever notice how defending Catholicism always includes lying?

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 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.”

DELET THIS

& Humanities was a mistake

Always lying. Just one lie after the other.

"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.”

Sounds to me like that's not what he said. Surely you can not call yourself an atheist if you appeal to God.

He's a heretic, like all his predecessors

>“Sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people disobey their conscience.”

>The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience.
What did he mean by this then?

God gave men consciences to know right from wrong.

The pope is saying that men can use their consciences to do good, and avoid evil, and thus end up in heaven.

He is not the first to say this. The first to say this was the serpent to Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The pope is quoted as saying Jesus' blood redeemed us all. Made us all children of God.

He's either a fool or a lying fool.

If faith without works is false, does that imply that works without faith is true?

Don't let James confuse you before you understand Paul.

So what's the fucking point, then?

The point is to be a good person, regardless of the promise of reward. Francis's argument is that good is good, regardless of faith.

So do good works, and then God has to let you into heaven because He owes you.

he quite explicitly said that following your conscious will be rewarded with heaven regardless of belief. jesus catholics manage to do the same doublethink with Francis that fundies do with bible contradictions

no it implies works without faith is false
Christ calls works by heretics and heathens works of iniquity

That's an ancient heresy called Pelagianism
>bible contradictions
There are none

A more charitable interpretation of what the Pope said may rest on the unstated assumption that "following your conscience" inevitably leads to accepting God and abandoning atheism.

An interpretation that turns the Pope's statement into a polite way of dodging the question.

It's kind of common among some believers to think that good people are something without realizing it. I've been told a few times that I'm really a Christian and don't know it.

So yeah, Francis might have been implying that.