The Pope attacked atheists?
How many died?
Here's a suggestion. Read the encyclical. In no sense can it be said to be an attack against atheists unless you hold to the view that any proclamation of the Christian faith "attacks" atheists. The Pope is defending the Catholic faith and is addressing the encyclical first and foremost to Catholics. That's because it's his job. The Pope is Catholic.
Only someone with a chip on their shoulder could see this as an "attack". It is about the Christian virtue of hope and in the course of examining the issue thoroughly, it is necessary to treat of the situation of those who lack "hope", or unbelievers but that is not its main purpose or primary focus.
The Encyclical wasn’t posted. A Reuters article was. Plus quotes from the Pope:
[The Pope seemed to be addressing the fresh interest in atheism in the developed world with phrases such as: “Let us put it very simply: man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope.”]
As everyone knows, atheists maintain that they do NOT need any Gods. So statements like the above are direct attacks against atheism. If he had said “Catholics need God, otherwise they remain without hope”, I wouldn’t comment, since he probably knows better than I what Catholics need. However, when he says “man”, then he is including me, and I object to that. If some drug addict or pathological liar wrote that all Americans are drug addicts or pathological liars, would you let that go without comment or would you consider it a personal attack to be lumped into such a group ?