From the Pastor's Desk | September 29, 2024

Last week, speaking in Singapore to a group of young people of different religions and faith backgrounds, Pope Francis said something that has caused a bit of controversy amongst Catholics.  He said, “Every religion is a way to arrive at God.  There are different languages to arrive at God but God is God for all.  But my God is more important than your God, is that true?  There is only one God and each has a language to arrive at God.  Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, they are different paths.”   

I am in no position to correct or be critical of a bishop let alone the Holy Father.  This article is not an attempt at that.  To do so is not my place.  This, however, is an attempt to clarify and offer context.  So, let’s take the Holy Father’s words and try to understand what he was getting at. 

To do so, let’s first look at the context.  We must keep in mind that when the Holy Father is speaking off the cuff and informally, as he did in Singapore, then there is no expectation of papal infallibility.  The Holy Father was speaking in a question and answer session with a group of young people from a variety of religious backgrounds and beliefs.  Only about 3.5% of the population of Singapore are Catholic.  Tom Hoopes from Benedictine College writes, “The Pope was not trying to give Catholics a final word on the Church’s teaching; he was giving non-Catholics a first word on the Church’s teaching.  In this case, Pope Francis is showing us that, when it comes to sharing the faith with nonbelievers, we should stress first what they get right, not what they get wrong.”  

Second, let’s look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  Here, paragraphs 841 through 847 will help us: 

Paragraph 841 - "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."

Paragraph 842 - “The Church's bond with non-Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race:

All nations form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city. . .” 

Paragraph 843 - “The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as ‘a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life.’”

Paragraph 844 - “In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them:

Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair.

Paragraph 845 - “To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is "the world reconciled." She is that bark which "in the full sail of the Lord's cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world." According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah's ark, which alone saves from the flood.”

The rub, if you will, for us Catholics about the Holy Father’s words comes with regard to paragraph 846 which teaches, outside the Church there is no salvation - extra ecclesia nulla salus.  And, yes, the Church does teach this but the Catechism of the Catholic Church frames this more positively in paragraph 846.  

Paragraph 846 states, “How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church fathers?  Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is His Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition the Council teaches 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, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door.  Hence, they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or remain in it.”  

Paragraph 847 continues, “This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and His Church:

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation. 

As we see, entering and remaining in the Catholic Church is a big deal!  Jesus very clearly says:

• He who believes and is baptized will be saved (Mark 16:16)

• Unless you repent you will all likewise perish (Luke 13:3)

• He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (John 6:54)

• Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

There are implications for those who genuinely know Christ and His Church and decide, for whatever reason, not to enter or to leave.  Neither I nor any of us are in a position to judge anyone for their decisions.  We simply hope that those who do not enter or do leave simply do not fully know or understand these implications.  On our part, we pray.  

Not only do we pray, we must continue to evangelize, which leads to the third point.  Like the Holy Father, we must have the courage to engage in dialogue with nonbelievers, to engage in dialogue with those of other faith traditions, to engage in dialogue with those who have questions or are searching for meaning.  We must have such courage knowing that we will trip up from time to time, say the wrong words, or misrepresent what the faith actually teaches.  The Holy Father’s trip was an act of courage to enter into religious dialogue to a population who largely do not know Christ or His Church.

Bishop Boyea has called each of us to, “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.”  To do so takes time, investment, and relationship building; building trust and rapport.  It takes real effort.  This was the point of the Holy Father’s trip to Singapore - to evangelize and to bring people to Jesus Christ and His Church - to begin dialogue.    

What does this have to do with today’s Gospel?  Jesus says, “There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.  For whoever is not against us is for us.”  We can’t put God in a box.  If God so chooses, He can certainly act outside of the Sacraments and outside of His Church.  Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, teaches, “This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward catholic unity” (LG par. 8).  

In other words, the Catholic Church holds the fullness of Truth, but other ecclesial communities (what we casually call “churches”) contain some element(s) of that Truth which impels us toward unity.  As Tom Nash from Catholic Answers writes, “So, we work with other Christians and other’s of goodwill wherever possible [to bring about good], and we pray that we are all ultimately one as Jesus and the Father are one (John 17:20-23).”    

Know of my prayers for you all!