The more I read of the statements attributable to this Pope, if I were a Catholic I’d be frightened. Scripture advises and defines what is sin and its word comes from God. Our conscience is not reliable by itself but only becomes more reliable when instructed in God’s word. God defines what is and what is not sin; not some churchman whether Catholic or Protestant. Too many people take a man’s interpretation of God’s word as a substitution thereof. We as individuals are ultimately responsible to God. Can’t one just see at the final interrogation one answering the Lord saying ‘well the Pope’s opinion on that issue was.......!
Yes, but what about those who don’t know God is the question. The Pope is methodically evangelizing non-believers with baby steps, with terms they can accept. Like recognizing good and evil, and recognizing the conscience of man, and whether they answer or ignore their conscience.
God “CAN” reach out to sinners and atheists without our supervision. Not all mankind is privy to the printed word. But, look what happened to Paul. Some require lightening to strike, but some can be drawn, even in the absence of a book and by reason, which many Christians often lack.
The opinion of the Church has always been that people of good will can be saved, but that all are saved through Christ. Preaching the Gospel is the commission of every Christian, but there are people who can’t hear it because it never comes to them, and even people who are incapable of hearing it because they are appalled by the behavior of some people who call themselves Christians.
There is also natural law, which is the basis of our Constitution and was the basis of all Christian legal thinking prior to Luther. Even the pagans can understand it, and it was what early Christian missionaries built on, even in this country, where the Franciscans found what was good in the Indian beliefs and customs and showed them the real meaning of it in Christ.
You think God should just damn them?