Stunning more than a few minds around the world — and breaking strongly from his predecessor — the recently inaugurated Pope Francis tells the faithful that atheists are saved as well, provided they do good works. (Agnostics too, I hope.)
I must say, I’ve been very impressed with Pope Francis so far. From ignoring pomp and circumstance and rejecting material comforts enjoyed by Pope Benedict XVI, to breaking with precedent to bless a guide dog, to washing the feet of a female Muslim prisoner on Maundy Thursday, to castigating “the cult of money” and emphasizing the need to address poverty, Pope Francis has — thus far — seemed closer in spirit to the Nuns on the Bus than the US Conference of Bishops, and a welcome throwback to the more progressive days of Rerum Novarum and Vatican 2.
Simply put, Cerebus and “God’s Rottweiler,” he’s not. Let’s hope it continues.
Per CNN: “The Rev. Thomas Rosica, a Vatican spokesman, said that people who know about the Catholic church ‘cannot be saved’ if they ‘refuse to enter her or remain in her.'”
And there’s the clarification I was expecting in response to Francis’s homily the other day. Of course atheists, and you agnostics as well ;), can be saved — once they accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/23/heaven-for-atheists-pope-sparks-debate/