A couple of days ago while on a trip to Asia, Pope Francis stated that all religions are “…like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for all. And if God is God for all, then we are all sons and daughters of God.”

Of course, bell, book, and candle Traditionalist Catholics immediately pounced and proclaimed this as “heresy;” which is rich because the “Deposit of Faith” they’re so eager to defend proclaims that pontiffs are incapable of such a thing. It also means they never read the Vatican II document Nostra Aetae proclaimed by Saint Paul VI in 1965. “The Catholic Church rejects nothing,” it read, “That is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.” If it was up to them, I suspect they’d reverse Paul’s canonization. 

Having been once studied to be a priest, however, I wasn’t surprised by the anger Francis’ words engendered. There’s always been those who’ve espoused extra Ecclesiam nulla salus – there is no salvation outside the church. While that was certainly a prevalent sentiment years ago it is now, at least for the spiritually mature, an anachronistic attitude reminiscent of your drunk uncle drunkenly spouting off about politics during Thanksgiving dinner. And, like that uncle, people like this are rather rigid when it comes to the complexities of life and the human condition. 

When I sat with my nephew at my dying father’s bedside, I told him not to be afraid of what he was witnessing because, “Life is messy. When you’re born its messy and also when you die.” Life in of itself is also messy; almost never conforming to our needs, wants or desires which means, for many people, life is disappointing. So, when you consider the messy multiplicity of cultures, languages, histories and philosophies of the Earth’s very diverse peoples, it should come as no surprise that religion is messy too. Through my own experience of God and everything I’ve studied over the years; I’ve concluded that no one creed could possibly contain His infinite vastness. Like light refracted through a prism, He manifests himself in countless ways throughout creation and, although it’s possible one religion might contain more fullness of truth than others, to say all the others are bankrupt – or the path to damnation – is pure folly. 

Of course, zealots who believe it’s their faith’s way or the highway can be found in every religion. Unbending, dogmatic, joyless and overly intense, they’re so focused on rules, regulations and spouting rote scriptural and dogmatic mantras that they’re complexly unable to relate to real people living messy real lives which keeps them isolated from society at large and regarded as sort of odd. Since no one likes to feel like they’re on the outside looking in, these people often end up being very angry people who, in an effort to spiritually rationalize their rage, conclude they’re being persecuted. Retreating into like-minded communities, they rail against “secular culture,” blame gays, transgendered persons, and drag queens  for all of society’s ills, and yearn for the day God will establish his kingdom on earth with, of course, them ending up in charge. All of this is just a manifestation of what Nietzsche called “the will to power” and a massive ego trip. These people are also dangerous. 

Rigid people cling to absolutes. When the Twin Towers were leveled in 2001, a Catholic priest named Lorenzo Albacete said that he knew right away religion was the cause. “I recognized this thirst,” he said. “This demand for the absolute. Because if you don’t hang on to the unchanging, to the absolute, to that which cannot disappear, you might disappear.” Although religious passion has enabled saints to accomplish great things, it has also allowed people to do terrible things “in the name of God.” Of course, not every religious fundamentalist is hell bent on killing people, but the effects of their narrow minded jihadist crusader attitudes can be just as destructive. These are the people who give religion a bad name, causing the faithful to ditch their religion in droves. They steal God from people. 

No matter what they say or how they dress it up, these kinds of people are not about God. They’re all about power and their egos, which is contrary to just about what every religion teaches. But what fuels their zealotry is what Father Albacete so piercingly observed. If their absolute disappears then they’re afraid they will disappear – and they will do anything to prevent from happening.  This is fear not faith and, like a foundation built on sand, it will collapse when the messiness of life strikes. Make no mistake, life breaks us all and the only way to handle that is to be humble. Knowing you don’t have all the answers keeps you flexible and open to the wisdom you might find in the most unexpected of places – but those who cling to absolutes out of fear will never hear it because, in actuality, they have no faith at all. 

A couple of days ago, I was watching a trailer for the upcoming movie Conclave when I heard a line from a cardinal played by Ralph Fiennes that elucidated this issue better than I ever could. “There is one sin which I have come to fear above all others. Certainty. If there was only certainty, and no doubt, there would be no mystery and therefore, no need for faith.” 

Amen, brother.