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Pope Francis Receives Backlash from Religious U.S. Leaders after Stating, “All Religions Are a Path to God”

Pope Francis Receives Backlash from Religious U.S. Leaders after Stating, “All Religions Are a Path to God”

Religious leaders in the U.S. have expressed outrage after Pope Francis declared that "all religions are a path to God" during a three-day visit to Singapore. During an interreligious meeting with young leaders at a Catholic junior college, Francis delivered prepared remarks before going off the cuff and stating that different religions are like "different languages" to reach God.

"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, according to Crux Now. "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]."

In response to the pontiff's comments, Bishop Joseph Strickland, who oversaw the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tyler, Texas, until his dismissal by the Vatican last year, wrote on X,  "Please pray for Pope Francis to clearly state that Jesus Christ is the only Way. To deny this is to deny Him. If we deny Christ, He will deny us, He cannot deny Himself."

Per The Christian Post, Strickland was removed for disagreeing with Francis on the matter of banning pro-abortion Catholic politicians from receiving communion and regarding which outreach to the LGBT community is acceptable in the Catholic Church. As a result, a petition was launched in defense of Strickland last year, saying he was ousted because he "publicly corrected several heterodox statements from Pope Francis."

The pope, alluding to the universal nature of God, claimed, "Since God is God for all, then we are all children of God."

In Singapore, Catholics compose about 3.5 percent of the population, with Christians at 19 percent, Buddhists at 31 percent, Muslims at 15 percent, and significant Hindu and Sikh minorities.

During his remarks, Francis encouraged young people to participate and maintain interfaith dialogue. "For interreligious dialogue among young people, it takes courage because youth is the time of courage in our lives," he said.

Calvin Robinson, who recently moved from England to lead a church in western Michigan, also disagreed with the pontiff's statement.

"This is a counter-scriptural statement from Pope Francis. The Scriptures teach us the opposite. The gate to [H]eaven is narrow," he said in a post on X. "In Christ's own words: 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

Back in May, Francis faced backlash and accusations of heresy on social media after claiming the human heart is "fundamentally good" during a "60 Minutes" interview.

"You see tragedies, but you also see so many beautiful things," he told interviewer Norah O'Donell at the time. "You see heroic mothers, heroic men, men who have hopes and dreams, women who look to the future. That gives me a lot of hope. People want to live. People forge ahead. And people are fundamentally good. We are all fundamentally good. Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good."

Let's Talk about It!

Pope Francis raises important questions for believers: Can all religions truly lead to God, or is salvation found only through faith in Jesus Christ? How should Christians approach interfaith dialogue, while remaining faithful to the core teachings of the Gospel? We want to hear your thoughts! Write your answers on Crosswalk Forums here! 

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Giulio Origlia/Stringer

Milton QuintanillaMilton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.