Is Pope Francis Teaching Pluralism?

[euanthompson]

"It's ok, because what he actually meant was..." we will need an interpreter for the infallible interpreter. Or maybe just the miracle of reinterpretation.

[JoshFisher-wx]

Roman Catholic here. Whilst I would simply say his statement wasn’t ex cathedra, I fully acknowledge that there is no excuse for a leader as important as the pope to be so irresponsible with his words. I think he’s a good man at heart, I will pray for him and I respect his office. But MAN ALIVE IS HE UNHELPFUL SOMETIMES!

[ninjason]

I'm sure some Catholic apologists will just "pope-splain" it away. It's more important for them to maintain papal supremacy than speak the truth of Gods Word.

[janker]

Ty sir I needed someone to confirm this is crazy, I spent hours last night trying to convince Catholics this is vague at best and at worst denial of the need for Jesus to save.

[mitromney]

Almost quit my Church yesterday after hearing this. I just felt like every second I remain Catholic after learning where my leadership is guiding their sheep I am complicit if I stay. But then I did decide to stay with this thought - I'm not gonna shut up about this. I'm going to talk with my bishop. Ask him what the heck is going on. I'm gonna fight. Our Church MUST REFORM.

[Ichthyoid]

I think this actually can show the benefits of Protestant denominationalism. If my own pastor said something like that, I’d leave immediately to find another church. If the head of my denomination said something like that, unless the rest of the leaders unilaterally condemn those words, I would leave. RC’s can’t leave because they believe that only their sacraments are valid. All they can do is try to defend, excuse, or ignore.

[Thatoneguy-puty]

ITS THE ONE TRUE CHURCH GUYS WE PROMISE!!!

[AmberFaganello]

I am a Catholic Christian, I LOVE my parish and I feel like there is revival and sanctification in our church - but the institution is hard to not observe in horror....

[onlyicedcrybaby]

It wont. It should but it wont. They will defend their pope over the word of Jesus. I really wish all Christians could come together i really do. And i understand their arguments for 1 church. But, this kinda thing is why we cant. Among others.

[_secret_lore]

It doesn’t matter if it is technically true or technically not false, the effect of this is confusing and the undermining of the Gospel message.

[gardyloogubbins]

As a Protestant, looking in from the outside, the part of the discussion that interests me is how many Catholics say that there is no larger problem for their view of the Church, it's indefectibility, unity of faith for 2000 years, etc. simply because the statements made by the Pope were not ex cathedra.

While I acknowledge that according to the system of definitions you've built up, this allows you to say that his statements weren't infallible, and thus don't technically threaten the doctrine of papal infallibility, it doesn't seem to offer any real comfort, if I'm one of those considering Catholicism due to claims of institutional indefectibility. If the head of the Church, the Vicar of Christ, is a heretic who rejects both Catholic doctrine and ethics (his views on sexuality seem pretty clear, even if he tries to keep his statements ambiguous) and if that head of the church is appointing people who agree with him to high positions, and if there were enough people in high positions to elect him to be Pope in the first place...doesn't this go a long way toward demonstrating that the church of today is not the church of 100 years ago?

[Maranatha]

In May 2024, Pope Francis traveled to Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to participate in an intercultural encounter with leaders of all the world religions that deny Jesus. He was basically saying. We are in this together. He put himself at the same level of all those other religions.
Does Pope Francis believe in the exclusivity of Christ?
It doesn't seem like he does.

[Maranatha]

In the interfaith meeting in Astsna in 2022, he said the same thing. This has been in his mind for a long time

[shaun]

I will venture that many Catholics like me do not agree with Pope Francis' recent statement and are saddened by it. I am also quite happy that Christian's outside the Catholic church would directly challenge it as St. Paul confronted St. Peter. I appreciated it, whether it comes from Protestants or Eastern Churches. I would hope that this is because I love the truth of the Gospel above any desire to be in the right just because I am Catholic and love the Catholic Church. That being said, I think it is possible that people in other religions could be trying to please God or live righteously while being ignorant of the truth as communicated by God through the Bible. However, I think Pope Francis' statement may have gone beyond this.

[ChristinaBiasca]

This is really harmful for people to be told there are other ways of heaven.

[mariomene]

Peter denied the Lord--maybe they really are Peter's representatives! 😅

[michelleelena]

Good call. So glad you are raising this concern!

[TalkingPoliticsWithCatsandDogs]

First of all, he has to be speaking ex cathedra to be infallible, Catholics are free to disagree if it’s not an official opinion (and many Catholics disliked him anyway). I do think he misspoke, but the larger point is context. He was talking about how to start an interfaith dialogue. When I was a brand new born again Christian I told my friend that was leaning towards Hinduism that it was just wrong as a starting point. It didn’t work, and it did shut down the conversation. So when he said if you start the conversation by telling someone “my religion is better than yours..” it won’t be productive…no lies were told there. Some of the problem is the people who are criticizing him never tried to do that, so they are just reading it as pluralistic and not practical. If all Christians were out there preaching this would be a more meaningful conversation.

[zachhawkins]

Thank you for your display of Christian academic humility in your approach to engaging with the many Christian traditions and thoughts.

[hrayrbarseghyan]

I think real Catholics should be appalled by this, and opt to dethrone that man from his position. It is better to have to excuse later why pope infallibility broke on that man, than have him there. Pope Francis should read about how Jesus stood before Pharisees and talked boldly to them, even though they were long plotting to kill Him. And how after resurrection He said to go into the world and bring people from kingdom of devil into the Kingdom of God. NOT go tell them everything is fine, continue worshipping your idols.