Pope Francis Says Atheists Who Do Good Are Redeemed, Not Just Catholics

So, I really want to be fair to him, because this could have pretty dramatic consequences (or could be lost as a “mid-week talk the pope gave one time” - anyone have any strong feelings/evidence if he’s saying that non-Christians go to heaven, or simply saying everyone has the capacity to do good, and that “meeting” is just the hypothetical place where we’re doing that good work together?

I think that one is actually more of an interesting conversation than “everyone goes to heaven.”

Been there/done that with Love wins. Debating the depth and consequences of total depravity could be fun :)

Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

The Pope is simply saying what the Catechism teaches:

“”Outside the Church there is no salvation”

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?335 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 to remain in it.336

847 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.337

Note that grace is defined as a God-given ability to do good works so that salvation by grace and salvation by good works are not mutually exclusive in Catholic teaching.

Just to emphasize something Dr. Houghton pointed out, according to Catholic teaching one could not consciously reject the gospel and still be saved. This alternate route, if you will, is open only to those who do not have access through the normal path of the Church. This is also consistent with the “anonymous Christians” theology taught by Karl Rahner.

The headline and the article do not match. For example, I believer Christ died for atheists and everyone else. He provided salvation for all. Indeed, most evangelicals would agree with this, all except for 5 point Calvinists.

That is not the same as saying that all are or will be saved. It is saying that Christ’s death encompassed all. The headline is NOT validated by the quotations.

What the pope said might be understood as the headline reads, and perhaps is the case (I am no lover of Catholicism). But the quotations themselves, while omitting what probably should be said (namely, that universal atonement does not equate to universal salvation) do not match the headline.