Did Pope Francis say an unbeliever can go to Heaven?

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mugglestruggle said:
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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Don’t be discouraged by the attacks. They will come when you ask questions about the pope. They area simply off limits on this forum. The language doesn’t really matter.
People are free to say the most absurd things about Catholicism, the basic tenets or our faith, etc., but not about the pope.
 
JacobF said:
I haven’t watched the video yet, so I don’t know any more about this story than what’s been posted in this thread,
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Redbaron162 already addressed your question about prayer in his excellent post above. Perhaps you should go back, watch the video and read the entire thread.
 
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mugglestruggle said:
Not to mention his claim that animals go to heaven, too.
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This was fake news from a few years ago (which much of the mainstream media picked up and rebroadcast uncritically). For a rebuttal, see:

www.ncregister.com

Did Pope Francis say animals go to heaven?

The news networks are abuzz with stories saying that Pope Francis has said pets go to heaven. They’ve even “helpfully” noted how this contrasts with the posi...
www.ncregister.com www.ncregister.com
 
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I note that the article points out that it was St. Pope Paul VI who actually told a distraught child, “One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”

I further note that Pope Francis wrote in Laudato si :
Eternal life will be a shared experience of awe, in which each creature, resplendently transfigured, will take its rightful place and have something to give those poor men and women who will have been liberated once and for all.
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His use of the word “creature” in the context of the overall encyclical dealing with stewardship of the Earth, plants and animals has been interpreted as meaning that animals will somehow participate in the “shared experience” of eternal life.

To be fair, I must also note that Pope have been all over the map on this. Based on their writings and statements, St. Pope John Paul II would be in the camp with Francis and Paul VI. Blessed Pope Pius IX and Pope Emeritus Benedict had different ideas.

As God is love and is not limited by humans’ attempts to grapple with theology, I trust God to do the best and most loving thing for me, my animals, and all animals, including the ones I and my animals eat for dinner.
 
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Animal do have souls. Every living thing has a soul. A soul is the animating principle that allows something to live.

What animal lack is a rational, immortal soul, which is unique to humans (so far as we know). Since animal souls are neither rational nor, as far as has been revealed, eternal, many Catholics reasonably conclude that our pets and other animals that have lived will not be there in the afterlife.

That said, it’s fully within God’s power to bring our animal friends back to life in the new creation, so who knows.
 
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They lack a rational soul. That is correct. Since they do not, they cannot choose and therefore would only be in heaven to complete the happiness of some soul but because God satisfy all completely, this would never happen.
 
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mugglestruggle said:
I come from years of agnotsism, protestant mindsets etc
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One of the dearest attributes of Catholic faith is ‘hope’. That is the context in which Pope Francis was answering the little boy about his deceased atheist father. Hope is a state in which both the omniscience (all knowingness) and mercy of God, allow us to have a tender heart towards all Gods children. There was a time in the Church history when “extra Ecclesiam nulla salus” (outside the Church there is no salvation) lost it’s spiritual dimension which resulted in an intellectual and harsh manifestation in our response to non Catholics. That was never how we were meant to understand the dogma. So Pope Francis is speaking to the little boy through the lens of Christian hope.
 
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MasterHaster said:
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Kramgen:
Actually, if you don’t have a rational soul (animals don’t) then you cannot go to Heaven.
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How do you know this?
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Because animals can only act off of instinct. They don’t have the power to realize good from evil. Therefore, there is no need for them in Heaven.
 
Kramgen said:
Because animals can only act off of instinct. They don’t have the power to realize good from evil. Therefore, there is no need for them in Heaven.
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God determines what is “needed” in Heaven, not us. And Thank God for that!
 
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1ke said:
The beatific vision is not like that.
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Like what?

My point was that God is not limited by what is necessary, He has shown Himself to be superabundant in the gifts He gives. I don’t see why Heaven would be any different, especially after the Resurrection.

To be clear, I don’t think our pets will be in Heaven, we won’t need them, but there is nothing in the concept that makes it inherently impossible.
 
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