Pope Francis wrapped up a three-day visit to Singapore on Friday, a country with large pockets of at least five different faiths, saying that “all religions are a path to God”. Source: Crux.
“They are like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for all,” said the Pope, who had set aside his prepared text and spoke largely off the cuff. “Since God is God for all, then we are all children of God.”
The Pontiff made his remarks during an interreligious meeting with young people held at a Catholic junior college, just prior to departing Singapore for his return flight to Rome.
Such rhetoric has stirred controversy among more conservative Catholics who fear that it calls into question Catholic doctrine on Christ as the lone saviour of the world and also undercuts missionary efforts to bring people to the faith.
When Francis used similar language at an interfaith meeting during a 2022 trip to Kazakhstan, Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider of the national capital of Astana, a frequent papal critic, warned that it risked creating a “supermarket of religions.”
Judging by his remarks on Friday, however, the Pontiff has not been deterred by such blowback.
“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 aloud. “There’s only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and they are different paths [to God].”
Catholics in Singapore make up about 3.5 percent of the population of just under 6 million. Overall, Christians of all types represent about 19 percent of the population, Buddhists 31 percent and Muslims 15 percent, with significant Hindu and Sikh minorities as well.
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Pope in multi-faith Singapore says ‘all religions are a path to God (By Elise Ann Allen, Crux)
