Pope Says All Religions are Path to God?

ThatRobGuy said:

Obviously I'm not Catholic (or any religion for that matter), but the Vatican softening certain stances has been following a pattern. Both they, and some other denominations, have been "softening" their positions on certain things out of concern for their membership numbers.

Churches that have higher operating costs and overhead have more of a tendency to "go with the direction the wind is blowing" so to speak because their operating costs necessitate that they get a certain amount of tithing coming in from members.

To put it more bluntly, they need a certain amount of "meat in the seats". And when an increasing number of the population no longer agrees with the stances (due to generational turnover) and feel they're outdated (to the point where they'd just rather stay home on Sunday morning), some of these larger "fancier" churches have opted for getting a little more lax.

That's why the churches that have more expensive operating costs and "professional clergy" (meaning, the clergy & staff of the church have that task as their regular full time job) have been a little more susceptible to that than the small modest churches who have a tendency to "stick their guns" so to speak (as they don't need to have a congregation of 1800 people regularly showing up to tithe and pay for the operating costs of a $4M building and salaries of 15 church staff)

General rule of thumb would probably be: The more a church operates like a business, the more they'll need to "cater to marketplace" in the same way businesses do. Which means being forced to find a balance between doctrinal/"mission statement" adherence, and "market appeal".

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ThatRobGuy said:

Obviously I'm not Catholic (or any religion for that matter), but the Vatican softening certain stances has been following a pattern. Both they, and some other denominations, have been "softening" their positions on certain things out of concern for their membership numbers.

Churches that have higher operating costs and overhead have more of a tendency to "go with the direction the wind is blowing" so to speak because their operating costs necessitate that they get a certain amount of tithing coming in from members.

To put it more bluntly, they need a certain amount of "meat in the seats". And when an increasing number of the population no longer agrees with the stances (due to generational turnover) and feel they're outdated (to the point where they'd just rather stay home on Sunday morning), some of these larger "fancier" churches have opted for getting a little more lax.

That's why the churches that have more expensive operating costs and "professional clergy" (meaning, the clergy & staff of the church have that task as their regular full time job) have been a little more susceptible to that than the small modest churches who have a tendency to "stick their guns" so to speak (as they don't need to have a congregation of 1800 people regularly showing up to tithe and pay for the operating costs of a $4M building and salaries of 15 church staff)

General rule of thumb would probably be: The more a church operates like a business, the more they'll need to "cater to marketplace" in the same way businesses do. Which means being forced to find a balance between doctrinal/"mission statement" adherence, and "market appeal".

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Jermayn said:

Could someone, preferably who is Catholic, break this down for me? Is the Pope promoting a Universalist Unitarian view where you can worship anyone/anything and be saved or is there some nuance the general public is not seeing here? How does the Catholic community feel about this statement? Article linked below:

All faiths lead to God, Pope tells youth in Singapore | News Headlines

A chief provider and curator of Catholic information on the web since 1996. Our editorial voice, always faithful to the teachings of the Church, assists and inspires Catholic clergy and laity.

www.catholicculture.org

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Akita Suggagaki said:

I don't think he is promoting religious indifference so much as he is trying to promote religious tolerance....

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durangodawood said:

How does this all-paths attitude fill the pews, or the treasury, more than exclusivism?

Sometimes I think the "hidden economic angle" is overrated, or even a red herring. People are also motivated by straight up ideological conviction.

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HIM said:

It is wrong regardless. We are to be intolerant when sin wags it's tale. The fact that most aren't is why a majority in the church are not Christ's.

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Akita Suggagaki said:

S
"Sin" is a different issue. There is plenty of sin within Christianity also.

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chevyontheriver said:

The ‘all paths’ attitude doesn’t fill pews but empties them. I mean, why fill a pew when I can sleep in and still be saved? Why worship in a Catholic church when the Church of Walmart and the Church of Target are so compelling? Why bother? Truth is few will bother with the ‘all paths’ attitude. As a marketing ploy it’s kind of dumb.

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2PhiloVoid said:

I agree, but these days, the pews are emptying for a multitude of reasons....

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chevyontheriver said:

Not all churches have empty pews. Some are rather full. For reasons too. It’s not random. Some congregations have average ages above the retirement age. Others are full of children and young adults. It’s not random. And it’s not the promotion of universalism that draws people.

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HIM said:

No there is not. There is plenty of sin in many who profess Christ and there are many calling them on it through and in Christ.
And False worship is sin. A fail from the start with no hope whatsoever.

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