Pope Francis says Use Life Witness, Not Words to Convert atheists

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And now there are over 1.2 billion baptized Catholics, which is nearly 18% of the population of the world.

The unconverted are weary of being preached at by Christians whose actions don’t speak the faith.
The Pope definitely has supported efforts to evangelize atheists. He just wants Catholics to realize what works and what does not work.

If you happen to be with an atheist who tells you that he does not believe in God, you can read him the whole library, where it says that God exists, and where it is proven that God exists, and he will not believe. [However] if in the presence of this same atheist you witness to a consistent, Christian life, something will begin to work in his heart…. It will be your witness that brings him the restlessness on which the Holy Spirit works.—Homily, Domus Sanctae Marthae, February 27, 2014

Jesus teaches us that the Good News, which he brings, is not reserved to one part of humanity, it is to be communicated to everyone.—Angelus, January 26, 2014

And so on… if you think the Pope isn’t interested in evangelization, you’re very much mistaken.
 
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LOL!

Many have tried that approach. Generally, being “more Catholic than the Pope” tends not to work out well… 😉
 
What I didn’t miss was about whom you were responding. Hint… it was the pope. 😉

Sure. Is that what you’re saying about Pope Francis, then? 🤦‍♂️
 
Sorry to imply that you were!
It is pretty clear from the saints that evangelization has always been a matter of “both-and” and not “either-or”. Matthew 23 is very clear about what Our Lord had to say to those who preach but do not practice, for example. He was not saying that no one ought to preach!
 
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Sounds like the Pope is just going off of that fake St. Francis quote again. You can’t preach the gospel without words. The gospel has got to be preached eventually. Many people don’t know the difference between the authentic Christian faith and protestism/atheism/islam/satanism just by good works alone. Not too long ago a literal satanic group bought socks for the homeless. You can bet your bottom dollar they preached their evil to them while doing it.
 
Combine this with his historical stance regarding not proselytizing and we have essentially just been told to stop spreading the faith…
 
Speaking as a non-believer I don’t experience anyone trying to convert me year in, year out, once they have established that I know a bit about religion and still don’t agree. My impression is that evangelising Christian of all denominations have a very strong preference for writing on blank sheets of paper. On the other hand I quite often defend Christians (an other religious people) from contemptuous attacks from atheists. I do this because of good experiences with believers as members of my communities.
 
That is right; Jesus does state the value of actions over mere words.
John 13:35:
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
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Simply telling others that you are Christ’s disciples is insufficient for them to truly know you as such.
Matthew 7:15-17:
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.
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People judge who to follow based in large part on the “fruit” they produce. If you want to convince others your tree is the best then you’d better have the fruit to support your claim.
 
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I don’t think that we can convert people in general by arguing with them. We can convert them by hokiness of life. St Edith Stein said that while she was inquiring about the Catholic Church she would periodically visit the cathedral of Berlin. One day she saw a flower peddler enter the cathedral and pray for a few minutes. She said that that brief silent prayer said more to her than many well spoken sermons.
 
godisgood77 said:
There is far too much talk
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I strongly disagree. I agree with the Holy Father that we should lead by example, but there is far to little actual talk about what the Catholic Church actually is and what She offers.
 
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Catechizing and evangelizing “by example” is really just living your life as a practicing Catholic. But obviously you need to talk about your faith.

The atheists, anti-Catholics, anti-Christians, or just anyone neutral to faith certainly catechize with words. The media and entertainment industries certainly try to “convert” with words, by constantly proclaiming sinful actions to be good.

Ultimately, it’s another day, another “interpretation exercise” to make something that was said actually sound like it makes sense.
 
Senyorico said:
Last week the Pope has been trending when he said not to try to convert atheists. What does he mean by this? “In front of an unbeliever, the last thing I have to do is try to convince him. Never. The last thing I have to do is speak.”
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We all as individuals, the Church, and the world might be better off if we work on the never ending continuation of our own conversion first rather than to be pre-occupied with the conversion of others.

“Cradle Catholics” born into the faith, and those coming into full communion with the Church, whether from other faith traditions, or from the ranks of non-believers are not finished with “conversion” after receiving the sacraments of initiation.

So, perhaps what the Holy Father is telling us is that efforts at evangelization or “conversion” is hollow unless those of us evangelizing are first properly disposed to show the faith, hope, and charity of our Catholic faith.
 
Preach, preach, and preach! Do not stop!

But strive to practice whatever you preach.

If I preach fornication is a sin, and then I fornicate. My preaching, then must be with my confession that I have sinned, and need His forgiveness.

People must see our confession in our preaching too.
 
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Why the thread title? Should it not be “Pope Francis says HOW to convert atheists”. Why lie about what what the Holy Father said in the title, where everyone reads it. Calumny.
 
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Sigh. Yet another attempt to weaken Christianity by pretending there is an ‘either-or’ aspect to evangelizing, that EITHER we: show it by example OR we:preach it with words, and that one approach is somehow the right one, the best one, the modern one, the one the POPE prefers, etc. etc. etc.

We cannot just ‘mime’ the faith by walking around, nor can we just ‘read from the book’ while not doing anything ourselves.
 
I read the article and I didn’t see anywhere that he said "dont convert atheists " it seems to me what he is saying (I hope) is that the best way to reach people it thru the example of a holy life.

That is the first thing and using words are the last.

If that is what he meant , then I see nothing wrong with it.

( St Francis said the same thing, preach Christ in all that you do, if necessary use words.)

And certainly we shouldn’t attribute to him something he never said, like "dont convert atheists " I didn’t see those words anywhere in the article.
 
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Mac said:
Problem with Pope Francis is that he says things incomplete, or empisisis one part of truth without mentioning the other part.
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Actually, he did not seem incomplete this time. We give people an example of our love, then we explain why. He is correct in my opinion.
 
I was speaking in general. I’ve learned not to trust the headlines , and reserve judgment . Every time I follow a headline to what he said in context I realise the headline is false or misleading.
 
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I know what you mean. But in this case the headline to the article posted on one of the first few posts was not misleading in this case. The thread title is simply a lie, well beyond misleading.
 
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