Today Pope Francis said the following:
All people are called to do good
and not evil, the pope said. Some would object, “‘but, Father, he isn’t
Catholic so he can’t do good.’ Yes, he can. He must.”The idea that others cannot really be good and do good in the world
creates “a wall that leads to war and to something that historically
some people have thought: that we can kill in the name of God. And that,
simply, is blasphemy. To say that one can kill in God’s name is
blasphemy.”“The Lord has redeemed us all with the blood of Christ, all of us, not
just Catholics. Everyone,” he said. Some may ask, “‘Father, even the
atheists?’ Them, too. Everyone.”
(Also he cited St. Rita, patron of impossible things. This makes me happy too).
So this is a big deal. If the Catholic hierarchy explicitly endorses that salvation for all is possible, it’s a big step towards pluralism. If the powers of Catholicism focus their energy on pluralism, rather than excluding people, we’ll see a better world.
Also apparently if I am a good secular Jew, then Jesus will redeem me even if I lose Pascal’s wager. Which is good, as long ago I decided to make Perry’s Wager. I’ll tell you about that on another post.