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the reproach of Christ 
I think there is a benevolent way to understand Pope Francis’s statement that “all religions are a path to arrive at God” (Tutte le religioni sono un cammino per arrivare a Dio). Many dictionaries define religion as “the service or worship of God or the supernatural” (Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, 1967). I’ve checked some other dictionaries that provide something similar in both English and Italian. If the service or worship of God is what defines religion, Pope Francis was simply providing a description of his understanding of what religions are about. He was not saying that all religions arrive at God to the same degree, and still less was he saying that all religions are equally salvific. I watched the video of the Holy Father’s September 13 meeting with young people of different faiths in Singapore before reading any articles reacting to it. I understood his statement as simply his description of what he sees as the defining element in all religions. I was happy to see that many dictionaries (especially older ones) also understand religions in the same way as Pope Francis. There are, of course, other ways of defining religion, but the understanding of Pope Francis does have some dictionary support.
Hi Ron and Dr. Fastiggi, nice sharing you you.
I noticed that Pope Francis’ words go in line with what Pope Benedict XVI has already taught: “The journey of religions, this quest for God in different ways — even if they are mistaken, but always seeking God — is assumed in the sacrament. The other religions, with their journey to God, are present and are assumed..” – (Pope Benedict XVI – Lectio Divina, June 11, 2012).
https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2012/june/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20120611_convegno-ecclesiale.html
Also, regarding interreligious dialogue: “In man’s present situation, the dialogue of religions is a necessary condition for peace in the world and it is therefore a duty for Christians as well as other religious communities. This dialogue of religions has various dimensions. In the first place it is simply a dialogue of life, a dialogue of being together. This will not involve discussing the great themes of faith – whether God is Trinitarian or how the inspiration of the sacred Scriptures is to be understood, and so on. It is about the concrete problems of coexistence and shared responsibility for society, for the state, for humanity. In the process, it is necessary to learn to accept the other in his otherness and the otherness of his thinking. To this end, the shared responsibility for justice and peace must become the guiding principle of the conversation. A dialogue about peace and justice is bound to move beyond the purely pragmatic to become an ethical struggle for the truth and for the human being: a dialogue concerning the values that come before everything. In this way what began as a purely practical dialogue becomes a quest for the right way to live as a human being. Even if the fundamental choices themselves are not under discussion, the search for an answer to a specific question becomes a process in which, through listening to the other, both sides can obtain purification and enrichment. Thus this search can also mean taking common steps towards the one truth, even if the fundamental choices remain unaltered.” – (Pope Benedict XVI – Address to the Roman Curia, December 21, 2012).
https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2012/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20121221_auguri-curia.html
So in light of this, I don’t think Pope Francis would have told them, in the context of this first place interreligious dialogue, the fact that they are ‘mistaken’ for that would imply that our religion is better, thus causing “destruction” as one of the young man responded in that meeting. The process of evangelization goes step by step, like when a child is not given solid food just yet.
I would also recommend reading the book: “Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions” – Ratzinger, J. Ignatius Press, 2004 – especially pgs 44, 205, 263.
Regarding the Pope’s video message*: “the diversity of your cultural and religious identities is a gift of God.” – he talks about the Permissive will of God, as he already clarified this when he said something similar previously in Abu Dhabi referring to the diversity of religions.
https://conciencianacional.org/?p=8675
And everything we have is because it has been given to us from Heaven: “A man is not able to receive anything, unless it has been given to him from heaven” – (John 3:27), in that sense the religion that a person has is a gift from God since it comes from Him in His Permissive will. St. Alphonsus says in his writing “Uniformity With Gods Will” “everything happens because of God’s will, save sin”. Does this mean that all religions are equal? No. Nor that the other ways are “equal” to The Way. No. God’s Perfect (or direct Will) is that we all be united in His Catholic Church; however, other religions can lead a person to the truth, for example a person who converts from another religion to Catholicism in their search for the truth. The Catholic Church, is the most direct and safest way to reach Heaven by being sincerely faithful to Her because it is the Fullness of the means of salvation (CCC# 830).
I believe that even if a person does not formally convert to Catholicism, God wants all men to be saved and to arrive at an acknowledgment of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4), this could not be true if God would not lead a person to Him in a person’s life in whatever condition he or she is by giving such person the necessary graces and ample opportunity to be saved.
‘And this does not contradict John 14:6 “No one comes to the Father, except through me.” For we all will be judged by Jesus (Matthew 7:21-13).
God Bless.
*Pope Francis’ video message:https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2024/documents/20240917-videomessaggio-med24.html
If all religions (including wicca, hunduism, satanism, atheism) are paths to God, as Francis claims, why do we need a Holy Roman Catholic Church?
All religions are not paths to God. Re: your comment, atheism is not a religion, and satanism should also not be considered a religion, as it is explicit worship of evil, and well as worship of what is known to be a fallen angel; no one even mistakenly thinks that Satan is a god. Using a somewhat narrower definition of religion:
Catholic Christianity is the truest form of religion, and the surest path to Heaven. Other Christian religions, such as Orthodox Christianity (which has all seven Sacraments) and different Protestant denominations, are the Christian religion, which cannot be called false, but with substantial errors. Note, however, that all Catholics probably have some erroneous ideas about the Faith, as we are all fallen sinners, who do not have the Beatific Vision of God.
Judaism is a true religion established by God. Jews in ancient times sometimes fell into grave errors, and were corrected by the prophets. Judaism, since the time of Christ, does not accept Jesus as the Messiah but also looks forward to the arrival of the Messiah (without realizing the person they look forward to has already arrived). Despite this substantial error, Judaism retains a large portion of Sacred Scripture and Jews do worship the one true God — who first introduced Himself in Divine Revelation to the Jews. Judaism teaches one Divine Being, who created the universe and who is to be loved and worshiped, and also teaches love of neighbor. These essential teachings make Judaism a true religion, despite not explicitly accepting Christ. Those who truly love God and neighbor accept and worship Christ at least implicitly.
Other religions have varying degrees of truth and error. Those which teach love of God and neighbor offer substantial helps to reach heaven, despite substantial errors. These can all be considered, in some sense, paths to God.
However, some religions offer little or no substantial helps to heaven, as they do not teach love of God and neighbor, and have few, if any, important teachings on faith or morals. Such religions may even be an obstacle to the path to God and heaven. Even so, God’s grace is always seeking the salvation of all human persons and all human persons are offered salvation. Some persons, seeking the true God in a false religion, might progress from that religion to Judaism or to some form of Christianity. Others, due to invincible ignorance and cooperation with grace, might be saved despite the deprivations of truth or obstacles to truth in a false religion.
I can’t agree that all religions are a path to God, as that statement needs many qualifications to be acceptable. But God does offer salvation to all human persons, regardless of their situations in life.
Ron,
Have you heard about Mirjana’s latest dream / vision? It appears she has seen events commencing after the USA Presidential Election. It was stated that after the election, many streets in the cities of the USA and Europe will be empty and a heavy fog is to be present. Catholics will fill the churches with fervent prayer. During the month of November, many Catholics will experience dreams of heaven with their gates opened. Certain individuals residing in Texas, Ohio and California will experience events which cannot be explained. In the month of December, all preceding events will stop.
If this is a true vision, do you have any ideas on what this may represent?
Regards,
I don’t believe that the above described vision is from Mirjana or Medjugorje. A search here:
https://www.medjugorje.ws/en/messages/
finds no such messages to Mirjana or any of the visionaries.
Hi Ron, I’ve read the last message of Medjugorje of 25 sept 2024. The message ended with ‘Avec approbation ecclésiastique.’ I didn’t know the messages are approved by the church?
The messages of Medjugorje are not approved by the Church. This is the downside of having a type of approval where there is no official recognition that the messages are supernatural, but the devotion has some degree of acceptance. People will tend to exaggerate that into approval for messages, etc.
Ron,
Question around Adam and Eve. Considering there are two purposes for relations within marriage, (procreation and unitive), did Adam and Eve have relations before original sin, or only after? If I understand correctly, they did not have any offspring until after original sin, which would mean that if they did have relations, it would have been for unitive purposes?
-Jay
To be moral, each sexual act must be marital, unitive, and procreative. Adam and Eve did not have relations before the Fall.
Dear Mr. Conte: Greetings! How to defend the pope with so many heretical clerics he has hired to work in the Vatican, even recently? Thanks already.
we should not be so quick to accuse any one of heresy. The Pope can err, though only to a limited extent. And it is not our place to judge these types of personnel decisions. Also, we don’t need to defend the Pope on every single word he says, nor every single decision he makes. It is not our place. The First See is judged by no one but God.
With regard to the recent DDF judgments on reported Marian apparitions, the best place to look is the listing of documents from the DDF:https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/doc_doc_index.htm