Pope Francis Is Turning Certainty on Its Head

Pope Francis made two comments last week that touched off a tempest in Christendom.

First, during an interreligious meeting at Catholic Junior College in Singapore, he said that religions are “like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for all. And if God is God for all, then we are all sons and daughters of God.”

The idea that we are sons and daughters of God is basic Christian doctrine. He is the creator, and we are his creation. But the pope’s statements go farther than simply recognizing God’s sovereignty. He indicated that other faiths can reach God as well. “But,” he continued, “‘my God is more important than your God!’ Is that true? There’s only one God, and each of us has a language, so to speak, in order to arrive at God.”

Then, in a news conference on his flight home, he addressed the American presidential election and criticized both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. “Both are against life,” the pope said, Harris because of her stance on abortion and Trump because of his stance on immigration. Pope Francis would not choose between them. Instead, he said, “Which is the lesser evil? That lady or that gentleman? I don’t know. Each person must think and decide according to his or her own conscience.”

The backlash to both these ideas was immediate. Critics accused the pope of being “counter-scriptural.” The archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput wrote, “To suggest, even loosely, that Catholics walk a more or less similar path to God as other religions drains martyrdom of its meaning. Why give up your life for Christ when other paths may get us to the same God?” Partisans on both sides were incredulous at the pope’s application of Catholic doctrine and infuriated that he deferred to voters’ individual consciences.

I have a different perspective. Pope Francis wasn’t watering down the Christian faith; he was expressing existential humility. He was unwilling to state, definitively, the mind of God and to pass judgment on the souls of others. His words were surprising not because they were heretical in any way, but rather because existential humility contradicts the fundamentalist spirit of much of contemporary American Christianity. His words were less a declaration of truth than an invitation to introspection, a call to examine your conscience.

Consider the contrast between the pope’s reluctance to consign believers in other faiths to hell (much less his willingness to embrace the idea that non-Christians can “arrive at God”) or to take sides in American politics with the willingness of many Christians to declare even fellow believers as lost forever if they hold different views on abortion or the 2024 election.