Recently Pope Francis made headlines all across the media when many reported that the Pope has preached Salvation by works. Here is what the Pope said:
“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there."
Catholic Church has long been teaching that we are saved by the grace of God and not by our works. Many of the secular media has used the Pope's speech to imply that the new Pope has a very liberal attitude when it comes to faith. In other words, it seems that the Pope is contradicting the teachings of his predecessors and is more in line with the modern day thought that being good is all that's required of human beings. Did Pope Francis err in his speech or has the Church changed its teaching?
The answer is neither: Neither did the Pope err nor did the Church change its teachings. The problem is that most of the people and the media failed to differentiate Church's teachings on REDEMPTION from SALVATION. The Church has always taught us that Jesus Christ died on a cross to redeem the entire humanity and that includes the atheists, the killers, the prostitutes, the procurers, the homosexuals, those in favor of abortion etc etc. Isaiah prophesied it, "But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our inequity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed" (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus' beloved disciple clarified it even further, "He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). So Jesus paid the ransom for the sins of the whole world with his blood and redeemed us from the evil that had enslaved us since the fall of man at the Garden of Eden.
St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that Jesus redeemed us while were still helpless, sinners, and enemies of God (cf. Romans 5:6-10). So it can be understood that God didn't need the help or consent of humanity to redeem us; it was done to fulfill a promise made to Adam and Eve. But at the same time, God doesn't force anybody to take part in this redemptive act. As always, God allows us to use our freewill to make that decision: We can participate in God's redemptive love and be saved, or we can reject it. Though the price has been paid for our freedom from sins, we can still choose to remain a slave to evil - the unconditional love of God permits us to do that.
So, Pope Francis was absolutely correct when he said that all are redeemed. He is inviting all of us to accept the redeeming love of God and to do good as a response to this love. Thus he is encouraging us for a peaceful encounter - to part ways with our sinful ways and to return to the loving embrace of the loving Father. When we turn away from our transgressions by accepting Jesus as the Lord and Savior, we are choosing to accept the redemptive power of His blood and that's when we receive the grace of Salvation.
“The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! And this Blood makes us children of God of the first class! We are created children in the likeness of God and the Blood of Christ has redeemed us all! And we all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there."Catholic Church has long been teaching that we are saved by the grace of God and not by our works. Many of the secular media has used the Pope's speech to imply that the new Pope has a very liberal attitude when it comes to faith. In other words, it seems that the Pope is contradicting the teachings of his predecessors and is more in line with the modern day thought that being good is all that's required of human beings. Did Pope Francis err in his speech or has the Church changed its teaching?
The answer is neither: Neither did the Pope err nor did the Church change its teachings. The problem is that most of the people and the media failed to differentiate Church's teachings on REDEMPTION from SALVATION. The Church has always taught us that Jesus Christ died on a cross to redeem the entire humanity and that includes the atheists, the killers, the prostitutes, the procurers, the homosexuals, those in favor of abortion etc etc. Isaiah prophesied it, "But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our inequity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed" (Isaiah 53:5). Jesus' beloved disciple clarified it even further, "He is expiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for those of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). So Jesus paid the ransom for the sins of the whole world with his blood and redeemed us from the evil that had enslaved us since the fall of man at the Garden of Eden.
St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that Jesus redeemed us while were still helpless, sinners, and enemies of God (cf. Romans 5:6-10). So it can be understood that God didn't need the help or consent of humanity to redeem us; it was done to fulfill a promise made to Adam and Eve. But at the same time, God doesn't force anybody to take part in this redemptive act. As always, God allows us to use our freewill to make that decision: We can participate in God's redemptive love and be saved, or we can reject it. Though the price has been paid for our freedom from sins, we can still choose to remain a slave to evil - the unconditional love of God permits us to do that.
So, Pope Francis was absolutely correct when he said that all are redeemed. He is inviting all of us to accept the redeeming love of God and to do good as a response to this love. Thus he is encouraging us for a peaceful encounter - to part ways with our sinful ways and to return to the loving embrace of the loving Father. When we turn away from our transgressions by accepting Jesus as the Lord and Savior, we are choosing to accept the redemptive power of His blood and that's when we receive the grace of Salvation.
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