“You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don’t believe and who don’t seek the faith. I start by saying – and this is the fundamental thing – that God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart.”
This is very different than what was stated in the headline. The Pope said if someone shows true contrition they will be forgiven for their sins. Even those who say they don’t believe in God commit sins if they don’t follow their conscience and act in a way that is evil.
The MSM gets almost everything wrong. They are trying to portray Pope Francis as a leftist. The article says as much.
Quote all of it
“In comments likely to enhance his progressive reputation, Pope Francis has written a long, open letter to the founder of La Repubblica newspaper, Eugenio Scalfari, stating that non-believers would be forgiven by God if they followed their consciences.
Responding to a list of questions published in the paper by Mr Scalfari, who is not a Roman Catholic, Francis wrote: “You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don’t believe and who don’t seek the faith. I start by saying – and this is the fundamental thing – that God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience.”
Obey my conscience will not bring God’s mercy or forgiveness