Did Pope Francis say an unbeliever can go to Heaven?

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mugglestruggle

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I know I’m late on the party but I want to understand. So the Pope told a little boy his unbelieving father was in heaven. The comment section is flooded with atheists (and other people who don’t know their Bible) saying this is awesome and wanting to convert. Not to mention his claim that animals go to heaven, too.

Did he later on explain what he meant? Did he only say that to comfort the kid, or did he mean it?
 
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I think you need to research the facts before making this accusation. I’ve only looked cursorily, but I can’t find evidence supporting your accusation. What I can find is evidence of the Pope comforting a crying child. But no evidence that he lied while doing so. Please research your accusation and provide support for it.
 
Here, you have it. He did not say anything about having to be a believer to enter heaven.

 
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Please be more charitable in your topic titles, and your comments:
  1. The Pope did was not “lying about salvation”, and such a statement is highly offensive.
  2. You have a lot to learn about Church teaching. Take your time and absorb it without passing judgment too quickly. There are people who have not found Christ yet, who still live the basic tenants of the Gospel, and through Invincible Ignorance they may find salvation. Read the story of the Prodigal Son in the Gospel of Luke…it might be helpful.
Searching for answers is always good, but making rash pronouncements without understanding can be a very bad thing.

Peace!
 
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You are being very uncharitable to our Pope. While I also don’t care for his off the cuff remarks, especially this one, he is not lying to the child. It is possible that the boy’s father is in Heaven, we simply cannot know, we are not in a place to judge hearts.

As for animal, there is no definitive Church teaching on the subject. It seems unlikely given what we know about the nature of animal souls, but it is not beyond God’s power to bring our animals back to us in Heaven. There are faithful Catholics who fall on either line of the divide.
 
I don’t think I was being uncharitable, only looking for answers. Maybe I should not have said lying, but it is true that what he said, does not sound like what we normally hear about the narrow path that leads to eternal life. I’m allowed to ask and be confused.
 
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mugglestruggle said:
Here, you have it. He did not say anything about having to be a believer to enter heaven.
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Perhaps review the catechism, particularly paragraph 846, because the Church doesn’t teach what you seem to be implying.

Also, the Pope did not say the man was in heaven, nor did he say he wasn’t. The pope’s answer was wonderful, and was certainly within Church teaching.
mugglestruggle said:
Not to mention his claim that animals go to heaven, too.
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Please produce evidence this claim.

You seem to be short on facts and on charity.
 
mugglestruggle said:
I’m allowed to ask and be confused.
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Yes you are.

You are not allowed to call the Pope a liar.

There is a vast difference between

“Why is Pope Francis lying about salvation?”

and

“Why did Pope Francis say an unbeliever can go to heaven?”

or

“Did Pope Francis contradict Church teaching?”

This is a “when did you stop beating your wife?” question.
 
Wrong phrasing, but same question. I’m new to the faith, I’m not perfect. I make mistakes.
 
mugglestruggle said:
Do I really need to link everything? There was an article about him saying dogs go to heaven.
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In online rules of etiquette, and in the general rule of charity, yes everyone needs to be able to cite their source.
 
mugglestruggle said:
Wrong phrasing, but same question. I’m new to the faith, I’m not perfect. I make mistakes.
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This “mistake” can be a fatal one. It’s the kind that gets your post flagged and you banned.

It is fine to criticize the Pope and his words and actions within the bounds of charity.

It is not permitted here, or anywhere else, to call him names or accuse him of a particular sin. Here you accused him outright of lying.
 
mugglestruggle said:
I’m new to the faith, I’m not perfect. I make mistakes.
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We all make mistakes.

Choose your questions more carefully. And if you are new to the faith, stay away from websites that incite hatred for Pope Francis.

I see from another post you were baptized Catholic but not raised practicing. Perhaps a book like the US Adult Catechism would be a good place to start with a synthesis of the faith.
 
As you said this is quite an old video and this concern has already been discussed numerous times.

Firstly: He is talking to a grieving little boy, so this is not the appropriate time to have a theological discussion

Secondly: He does not say his father is in heaven. He says that it was good that his son thought he was a good man and that despite not being a believer he had his children baptized. He then stated that he did not believe God would keep such a man away from Himself which is a pretty nice way of addressing the question for a child. He finished by saying that he should talk to his dad and pray for him. Nowhere in this did he say anything in contradiction to the faith

Thank you for changing the title. Please let me know if there is any further assistance we can give you
 
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Since this is a catholic forum I thought most people knew about what the Pope said. I will put links next time.
Just to clarify, the “accusations” were not as harsh in my mind as they came out. I respect our Pope ! My coming back to catholicism is literally a week old. I come from years of agnotsism, protestant mindsets etc. It is possible that I did not consider it to be calumny. My bad.
 
Welcome back! Seriously, just understand everyone is under extra stress right now 🙂
 
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