Well good for him for saying so but how does this conform with his statements that atheists can go to heaven? This man is the most inconsistent and intellectually lazy pope in the history of the church.
My impression is that Pope Francis was saying that atheists can accept Christ and go to heaven, definitely not that they can reject Christ and go to heaven.
But I say ,”my impression,” because of the ever-salient Bergoglio Uncertainty Principle. I’m still not sure whether he is a Master of Ambiguity, or its victim.