Did Pope Francis really say this?!?!?

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I have attached a post that I saw on Facebook. Notice that the post gives no source for this quote attributed to Pope Francis.

I find this quote questionable, and before I refute it on FB, I am asking if anyone here knows if the quote is really from the pope and can give the source. I have googled words and phrases from the quote and have not turned up anything. Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
Whenever you find an alleged quotation attributed to someone and you want to check the validity of the quotation, simply put a large enough chunk of the quote within quotation marks, inside of a search engine.

google.com/webhp?tab=ww&ei=jveNVK3ABY-INvaHhIAN&ved=0CAMQ1S4#q=%22it+is+not+necessary+to+believe+in+God+to+be+a+good+person+in+a+way+the+traditional+notion+of+God+is+outdated%22

The above is a Google search of “It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person in a way the traditional notion of God is outdated”. I even left out punctuation and “Pope Francis” to see if anyone has ever been quoted as saying this. It appears that there’s no record of this having been said by anyone important enough for the almighty Google to pick up on.

I’d politely ask your Facebook friend if (s)he knows where this alleged quotation came from since you can’t seem to find any corroboration for it whatsoever.
 
Brandon_Cal said:
Whenever you find an alleged quotation attributed to someone and you want to check the validity of the quotation, simply put a large enough chunk of the quote within quotation marks, inside of a search engine.

google.com/webhp?tab=ww&ei=jveNVK3ABY-INvaHhIAN&ved=0CAMQ1S4#q=%22it+is+not+necessary+to+believe+in+God+to+be+a+good+person+in+a+way+the+traditional+notion+of+God+is+outdated%22

The above is a Google search of “It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person in a way the traditional notion of God is outdated”. I even left out punctuation and “Pope Francis” to see if anyone has ever been quoted as saying this. It appears that there’s no record of this having been said by anyone important enough for the almighty Google to pick up on.

I’d politely ask your Facebook friend if (s)he knows where this alleged quotation came from since you can’t seem to find any corroboration for it whatsoever.
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I did a Google search and this is what I found

google.ca/webhp?tab=ww&ei=jveNVK3ABY-INvaHhIAN&ved=0CAMQ1S4&gfe_rd=cr#q=did+Pope+francis+say+%22it+is+not+necessary+to+believe+in+God+to+be+a+good+person+in+a+way+the+traditional+notion+of+God+is+outdated%22
 
jpjd said:
I have attached a post that I saw on Facebook. Notice that the post gives no source for this quote attributed to Pope Francis.

I find this quote questionable, and before I refute it on FB, I am asking if anyone here knows if the quote is really from the pope and can give the source. I have googled words and phrases from the quote and have not turned up anything. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
If it is not substantiated and a reputable source given, it is, by definition, spurious.
 
No. To me it sounds like an extremely inaccurate and misleading paraphrase of some things he has said in the past. Like speaking out against religious people who have become more obsessed with forcing people away from the Church than bringing people to God. Or the fact that all people, including atheists, are redeemed by the blood of Christ, and that atheists can and do perform many good deeds. All of these things he has said. But not in the way this meme portrays it, as if he is saying faith doesn’t matter as long as you are good person.

Trust me, if he really said something this radically opposed to the Christian message like this, you would have heard about it from every news outlet in the Western Hemisphere. This truly would be the stunning departure from doctrine that they have been looking for, and the media would be all over it if it was even remotely true. The fact that they are not is all the proof you need that it is false.

Francis loves God, he loves Jesus, he loves the Church. His entire mission is to bring people to Christ. If you read his actual words and homilies, you see a man in love with the gospel. He is NOT an indifferentist like the media likes to portray. He would never belittle faith like this.
 
An update:

I did ask the person who posted this, if they had a source of where Pope Francis said or wrote this quote. There was no response from the person or any of the 6 people who “liked” the post (at least 3 of whom I know to be Catholic, and should know better).

I did, finally, find what appears to be the source for part of this quote…I found that HIS NIECE said these words! “Pope Francis’ niece said in a recent interview that she considers herself to be spiritual, not religious, and she believes her uncle will renew the “outdated” Catholic Church.” (from the Chrisian Post Reporter on June 23, 2014)

So, you know, the actual pope…the pope’s niece…their words are interchangeable, right? :rolleyes:
 
jpjd said:
An update:

I did ask the person who posted this, if they had a source of where Pope Francis said or wrote this quote. There was no response from the person or any of the 6 people who “liked” the post (at least 3 of whom I know to be Catholic, and should know better).

I did, finally, find what appears to be the source for part of this quote…I found that HIS NIECE said these words! “Pope Francis’ niece said in a recent interview that she considers herself to be spiritual, not religious, and she believes her uncle will renew the “outdated” Catholic Church.” (from the Chrisian Post Reporter on June 23, 2014)

So, you know, the actual pope…the pope’s niece…their words are interchangeable, right? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I’m thoroughly convinced that historians of the internet a thousand years from now are going to have their work cut out for them.
 
how about this quote from Oct '13…I am looking for the Catholic Answers [or whoever] explanation of it. It is confusing, no Catholic God!!
I believe in God, not in a Catholic God. There is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation,” the pope said
is there a thread where this is discussed ?
 
It’s probably not the clearest way of saying it, but I think the point he was trying to make is there is only one God who is the God of all creation–we don’t believe in provincial gods like the pagans did.

It’s clear he means this God is who Catholics acknowledge, as he professes his belief in His Incarnation right after. There’s not a bunch of different Gods–a God for Catholics, a God for Protestants, a God for Muslims, a God for Jews, a God for Buddhists, etc. There is one one God.
 
If it’s not “…the clearest way…”, then I am not comfortable that " it’s clear he means…" That’s why I ask the question. “No Catholic God”: maybe that means Catholics shouldn’t be the only ones to define God, if there is respect for all those other systems. Remember, for Muslims, it is an abomination that God would have a son. A Catholic professes God as the Holy Trinity, and Buddhists, Muslims don’t. How about the Jews?
There is a big difference here, and, realizing this, the statement is anything but clear. Surely, we want to interpret everything as Catholic, but the words could be saying something else.
This was a year ago and there must have been discussion on it. There must be another thread on some other odd sayings.
 
I just meant the phrase “there is no Catholic God” wasn’t the clearest on its own, but the follow-up context does clarify it.

Catholics don’t get to define our God one way, and other groups define their God another way, etc. and its all good. There is only one God and He is who He is. We don’t get to determine who God is. God has revealed who He is, most supremely through His Incarnation. The Catholic Church is the custodian of that revelation, but that revelation is for all–it’s not something relative.
 
I bet that FB post had a bunch of ‘likes’ and shares too…right? lol

Ive said this before, this is exactly why everyone in the secular world seems to love the head of the catholic church so much, people are believing these statements are truly coming from him, so of course they agree with it. They think he is changing the CC from the old ‘out of date’ beliefs…but it doesnt help much that Pope Francis generally speaks very vague, alluding to things, etc. so its very easy to misinterpret what he is saying.
 
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