Pope Francis recently spoke with a group of young people at a Catholic college in Singapore and one of his statements has earned him the ire of Catholics and Protestants alike. The remarks were during an interreligious meeting, with the Pope breaking off from his prepared remarks to note that different religions are like “different languages” but “God is God for all.” “If you start to fight, ‘my religion is more important than yours, mine is true and yours isn’t’, where will that lead us?” he asked. “There’s only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Sheik, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and they are different paths [to God],” he added. He encouraged the youths of different faiths to engage in dialogue with each other.

The Pope’s remarks earned him swift rebukes. Father Calvin Robinson, who hosts “Calvin’s Common Sense Crusade,” called the Pope’s words “counter-scriptural.” “This is a counter-scriptural statement from Pope Francis. The Scriptures teach us the opposite,” he wrote. “The gate to heaven is narrow. In Christ’s own words: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” CBN’s Billy Hallowell wrote an op-ed in The Washington Times, entitled “No, Pope Francis: All religions aren’t a path to God.” “These remarks wouldn’t be shocking if coming from Universalists or even academics in the bowels of our secular institutions — people who patently deny the historic and theologically unique nature of Christianity,” wrote Hallowell. “But the proclamation is a head-turning, show-stopping moment considering it slipped from the lips of the man who heads the world’s largest Christian denomination.”

Hallowell pointed out the number of people criticizing the Pope’s comments, particularly comments from Greg Laurie and Catholic Bishop Joseph Strickland, who recently was ousted by the Vatican for issues he had with what he considered to be the Pope’s increasing openness to issues like LGTBQ+ and abortion. “Pope Francis’ claim, as shared by the Vatican and without any further context or clarification from the pontiff, overtly contradicts the heart of the Gospel message, which explicitly and indubitably states that the only way to God and eternal life is through Jesus,” wrote Hallowell. He pointed to John 3 as Scriptural evidence against the Pope’s claim. In that chapter, Jesus tells a Pharisee named Nicodemus that in order to see the Kingdom of God, they must be “born again.” In order to be born again, Jesus says a person must believe in the Son of Man (Jesus). And later in the chapter, Jesus warns against those who do not accept him as being condemned. “Thus, it’s impossible to act as though different religions are merely divergent ‘languages’ that all lead to the same God. The entirety of the biblical message is one of transformation — the need to accept Jesus and allow God to transform our hearts and lives. Christ makes it painstakingly clear that a person can truly access the Lord only through him,” Hallowell concluded from the passage. To date, the Pope has not clarified his statement.