Pope Francis Teaches Heresy?? (ALL Religions Are Paths to God??)
Pope Francis recently gave some shocking statements that have left anti-Catholics laughing at and condemning the Church. Even some Catholics have become confused or angry. Around the world, the message is spreading faster than the speed of light that Pope Francis just changed Catholic teaching to assure that all religions may go to heaven. Additionally, all religions are just different paths to God.
It doesn’t take a scholar to realize that this sounds heretical and off-base. This is what we will tackle in this article. The truth is that Pope Francis did say some very concerning things. However, contrary to what the media and anti-Catholics claim, neither Pope Francis nor the Catholic Church has changed any teaching. Again, nothing has changed regarding this doctrine.
People are yelling that the Catholic Church now teaches that all religions can go to heaven and are from God which is 100% false. This comes from a fundamentally ignorant place. The news media and non-Catholics think that just because the pope says something, it magically becomes true. This is entirely false.
For something to change, be clarified or tweaked in the Church, the pope must be speaking from his teaching office with binding authority and not giving an off-the-cuff interview with kids. See the very large difference between the two?
Pope Francis even said at the outset that he abandoned his planned script. This is never good for him because he does not speak well off-the-cuff. He often doesn’t speak precisely, and this leads people to confusion. So, this wasn’t well thought out and is tragic. Yet, the truth remains that this was a random talk in the spur of the moment and not part of the planned speech.
With that being said, he did say some pretty shocking and irresponsible things which perhaps he will clarify later. It’s confusing because, in the past, Pope Francis has said many times that Jesus is the only way to heaven, and we must follow Jesus to get to heaven. Clear. Teaching authority. Yet here, he said that all religions are different paths to God which is 100% not true.
Perhaps there is some context to this statement or something he meant by it, but as it stands, it’s just false and leads many people to believe false things. The Catholic Church firmly holds that Jesus is the only way to heaven via the Catholic Church.
More concerning is that Pope Francis claimed, “God willed all of these different religions.” I don’t know how he could make such an erroneous statement in light of the Catholic Church’s official teaching which contradicts what he said. We understand that he was trying to come off as kind and was trying to make the point that we should not fight about religion or bully others. Great! We agree!
However, he took that too far to the point of speaking very dangerous theology. Fact: God does not actively will all religions. In fact, the opposite is true. God wills that all be saved through his Son Jesus Christ and come home to his one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
Some people have asked if we suddenly claim to know more than Pope Francis since we claim he is incorrect. What these people need to know is that opinions, including ours, don’t matter. The only thing that matters is authoritative Church teaching. That is what we are upholding and utilizing. Listen to what the Catholic Church officially teaches. This comes from the Vatican Notification against Jacques Dupuis:
“It must be firmly believed that Jesus Christ is the mediator, the fulfillment and the completeness of revelation. It is therefore contrary to the Catholic faith to maintain that revelation in Jesus Christ is limited, incomplete, or lacking or imperfect … The historical revelation of Jesus Christ offers everything necessary for man’s salvation and has no need of completion by other religions.”
In other words, we cannot learn anything from any other religion in terms of doctrine or salvation. Jesus is the fullness of truth. Listen to what else the church says in the Vatican document Domini Iesus:
Jesus Christ is the “Lord and only Savior… unique and singular, proper to him alone, exclusive, universal, and absolute. Jesus is, in fact, the Word of God made man for the salvation of all… Above all else, it must be firmly believed that ‘the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and baptism (cf. Mk 16:16; Jn 3:5), and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through baptism as through a door.’ … With the coming of the Savior Jesus Christ, God has willed that the Church founded by him be the instrument for the salvation of all humanity (cf. Acts 17:30-31). This truth of faith does not lessen the sincere respect which the Church has for the religions of the world, but at the same time, it rules out, in a radical way, that mentality of indifferentism ‘characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that ‘one religion is as good as another.”
While the Catholic Church still has respect for all other religions and shows love for our fellow man, she still upholds the truth that Jesus is the only way to heaven, and the Catholic Church was actively willed by God to be the instrument of salvation.
I think Pope Francis knows this and has affirmed this in the past multiple times. That is why it was so shocking and confusing to hear this off-the-cuff statement, perhaps carelessly stated, that goes directly against this.
One good that came out of this is that we can clarify some big misunderstandings by Protestants and other non-Catholics. Many non-Catholics think that if a pope says something (even if it’s wrong), then it suddenly becomes true and all of Catholicism crumbles. This is not even close to true.
They also erroneously believe that the pope can change the Bible. Not true. Or the pope can contradict past teachings. Not true. We must look at each statement, where it was said, to whom he is speaking, and what level of authority the teaching had behind it (if any). In this case, it had zero authority. He was talking casually with kids and not teaching anything officially.
Even if the pope contradicted the Catholic teaching on this, Catholic doctrine doesn’t change for 3 reasons:
#1. The teachings of the Catholic Church are true, and truth does not change. This is in reference to doctrine and dogma – not disciplines.
#2. The pope possesses a wide variety of teaching authority. Sometimes, his words are spoken with little to no authority at all. At the top of the ladder, you have dogma and ex-cathedra statements. This is when the pope speaks from the seat of Peter. Then, you have encyclicals, catechisms, and other authoritative teachings to varying degrees. This includes ordinary magisterial authority. From there, it descends down to his own thoughts on a subject. At the very bottom, we have his own opinions that wield little to no authority. Opinions are opinions, and a pope can have his own opinions even if they are wrong.
This is exactly the kind of case we are discussing here. It was a casual, off-the-cuff talk with kids. Therefore, it was not papal teaching in any way that was magisterial or even authoritative.
While we always try to give the Holy Father the benefit of the doubt, what came out of his mouth was dangerous and scandalous. It shocked Protestants across the world who already think we are wishy washy about salvation. It confirmed and entrenched anti-Catholics in their anti-Catholics beliefs giving them ammo to prove they were “right all along.” It also confused countless Catholics.
The truth is that God does not will all religions to exist – not in his active will anyway.
#3. The pope can’t contradict truth or make mistakes when teaching officially using his teaching office and the authority Christ gave him because he is guided by the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ.
So, what do we think about this? Careless. Damaging. Inaccurate. Unfortunate. Confusing. It’s a similar problem with Fiducia Supplicans. That document and the surrounding statements were all orthodox. There was no wrong teaching. However, the way that one statement was ambiguously worded caused confusion for many. An entire world is now confused, including many Catholics, because of this seemingly harmless interview with kids.
What we have spent decades explaining to people seems to have been undone overnight. As the Amazing Spiderman’s uncle once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” We stand with our Holy Father and pray for him, but he needs to speak more clearly and responsibly.
He also needs to cease giving sporadic, erratic, unplanned interviews on airplanes and in other places. People and news media sources will not scour texts or analyze his words, contexts and meanings. What he says becomes the truth to most people. So, he needs to take serious responsibility for what he states.
Is Pope Francis a heretic as some assert? What most don’t realize is that some past popes have held heretical opinions and teachings in their own private opinions. One pope argued fiercely against other bishops who told him, in no unclear language, that the views he held were heretical. The pope himself said he held the right to discuss these things and hold his private opinions even if they are wrong. However, when he came out and taught officially on this topic, he taught the truth of Christ and not heresy.
Popes can hold to personal heretical opinions and even say dumb things. However, when it comes to the teaching office, that is different. To be a heretic, a person cannot just utter one statement and ipso facto become a heretic. That is not how it works. A person would need to repeatedly hold to and teach heresy even after correction by the Church.
Did Pope Francis teach something inaccurate? Yes. God bless and keep him. However, this was only in his own private opinions and thoughts and not a formal teaching or magisterial in any way. He is not a formal heretic though the statement may be heretical. Saying so is just as inaccurate and careless.
In the end, the church’s teaching remains the same. Jesus is the only way to heaven through his Church. Pope Francis did not change that teaching. Neither has the Catholic Church.
Make sure to check out our other videos on Pope Francis:
The REAL Truth about the Pope and “Same Sex blessings“
Pope Francis and the One World Order?
Pope Francis says Jesus was a failure?
