Does anyone know where I can find an exact copy of what Pope John Paul II said when he made his statement that as long as people lead a good life they can get into heaven, even if the DO NOT believe in Jesus????

I was taught that if that if things like this started to happen that the end of times were near.......PLEASE HELP

-- Lina Flick (tarinasouls@aol.com), December 30, 2000

Answers

Lina:

You can relax! The Pope never said this. What he said was can be found in the full document known as "Dominus Iesus", on the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the Church can be found at:

http://www.vatican.va/latest_en.htm (then click on "Declaration ‘Dominus Iesus' Cong. Doctrine of the Faith (August 6, 2000))

Ed

-- Ed Lauzon (grader@accglobal.net), December 30, 2000.

Ed, I think that what she is refering to is a statement made by John Paul II during a Papal Audience a few weeks after the document was relieased. I don't have it in front of me so it's hard to comment. But it does not say that one can be saved if one "rejects" Christ. The document makes it clear that all are saved through and by Christ even those who do not know Christ, as Vatican II says through no fault of their own.

-- Br. Rich SFO (repsfo@prodigy.net), December 30, 2000.

Pope's GENERAL AUDIENCE Wednesday 29 November 2000

Title: God the Father offers salvation to all nations

1. The great fresco just offered to us in the Book of Revelation is filled not only with the people of Israel, symbolically represented by the 12 tribes, but also with that great multitude of nations from every land and culture, all clothed in the white robes of a luminous and blessed eternity. I begin with this evocative image to call attention to interreligious dialogue, a subject that has become very timely in our day.

All the just of the earth sing their praise to God, having reached the goal of glory after traveling the steep and tiring road of earthly life. They have passed "through the great tribulation" and have been purified by the blood of the Lamb, "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Mt 26: 28).

They all share, then, in the same source of salvation which God has poured out upon humanity. For "God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (Jn 3: 17).

2. Salvation is offered to all nations, as was already shown by the covenant with Noah (cf. Gn 9: 8-17), testifying to the universality of God's manifestation and the human response in faith (cf. CCC, n. 58). In Abraham, then, "all the families of the earth shall bless themselves" (Gn 12: 3). They are on the way to the holy city in order to enjoy that peace which will change the face of the world, when swords are beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks (cf. Is 2: 2-5).

It is moving to read these words in Isaiah: "The Egyptians will worship [the Lord] with the Assyrians ... whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage'" (Is 19: 23, 25). "The princes of the peoples", the Psalmist sings, "are gathered together with the people of the God of Abraham. For God's are the guardians of the earth; he is supreme" (Ps 47: 10). Indeed, the prophet Malachi hears as it were a sigh of adoration and praise rising to God from the whole breadth of humanity: "From the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts" (Mal 1: 11). The same prophet, in fact, wonders: "Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?" (Mal 2: 10).

3. A certain form of faith thus begins when God is called upon, even if his face is "unknown" (cf. Acts 17: 23). All humanity seeks authentic adoration of God and the fraternal communion of men and women under the influence of the "Spirit of truth operating outside the visible confines of the Mystical Body" of Christ (Redemptor hominis, n. 6).

In this connection St Irenaeus recalls that God established four covenants with humanity: in Adam, Noah, Moses and Christ (cf. Adversus Haereses, 3, 11, 8). The first three aim in spirit at the fullness of Christ and mark the stages of God's dialogue with his creatures, an encounter of disclosure and love, of enlightenment and grace, which the Son gathers in unity, seals in truth and brings to perfection.

4. In this light the faith of all peoples blossoms in hope. It is not yet enlightened by the fullness of revelation, which relates it to the divine promises and makes it a "theological" virtue. The sacred books of other religions, however, are open to hope to the extent that they disclose a horizon of divine communion, point to a goal of purification and salvation for history, encourage the search for truth and defend the values of life, holiness, justice, peace and freedom. With this profound striving, which withstands even human contradictions, religous experience opens people to the divine gift of charity and its demands.

The interreligious dialogue which the Second Vatican Council encouraged should be seen in this perspective (cf. Nostra aetate, n. 2). This dialogue is expressed in the common efforts of all believers for justice, solidarity and peace. It is also expressed in cultural relations, which sow the seed of idealism and transcendence on the often arid ground of politics, the economy and social welfare. It has a significant role in the religious dialogue in which Christians bear complete witness to their faith in Christ, the only Saviour of the world. By this same faith they realize that the way to the fullness of truth (cf. Jn 16: 13) calls for humble listening, in order to discover and appreciate every ray of light, which is always the fruit of Christ's Spirit, from wherever it comes.

5. "The Church's mission is to foster "the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ' (Rv 11: 15), at whose service she is placed. Part of her role consists in recognizing that the inchoate reality of this kingdom can be found also beyond the confines of the Church, for example, in the hearts of the followers of other religious traditions, insofar as they live evangelical values and are open to the action of the Spirit" (Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Dialogue and Proclamation, n. 35). This applies especially - as the Second Vatican Council told us in the Declaration Nostra aetate - to the monotheistic religions of Judaism and Islam. In this spirit I expressed the following wish in the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee Year: "May the Jubilee serve to advance mutual dialogue until the day when all of us together - Jews, Christians and Moslems - will exchange the greeting of peace in Jerusalem" (Incarnationis mysterium, n. 2). I thank the Lord for having given me, during my recent pilgrimage to the Holy Places, the joy of this greeting, the promise of relations marked by an ever deeper and more universal peace.

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VATICAN CITY, NOV. 29, 2000 (ZENIT.org).- Interreligious dialogue is manifested in the common effort of all believers for justice, solidarity and peace, John Paul II said during his general audience today. This dialogue "is expressed in cultural relations, which sow the seeds of ideals and transcendence in the often-arid earth of politics, economics and social life," the Pope told a gathering of 30,000 pilgrims in St. Peter's Square. The Holy Father emphasized that one of the dimensions he has highlighted during this Holy Year has been the dialogue between religions. He has said that it reached a high point last March, with his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Interreligious dialogue also must be an opportunity for Catholics to give "the complete witness of faith in Christ, only Savior of the world," the Holy Father said. This dialogue, the Bishop of Rome said, "calls for humility in listening, in order to grasp and cherish every ray of light, which is always the fruit of the Spirit of Christ, no matter where it comes from."

In September, the Vatican published the declaration "Dominus Iesus," with the Pope's approval, clarifying that authentic dialogue with other religions must not lead Catholics to renounce their belief in the unique and universal salvation brought by Jesus Christ and his Church.

Today, John Paul II referred to passages in the Old Testament, in which the prophets express man's thirst for God. "Have we not all the one Father? Has not the one God created us?" the Pontiff said, quoting the prophet Malachi. The Pope continued: "A certain kind of faith opens in the invocation to God, even when his face is 'unknown.'" This faith "blossoms into hope," he said. However, this hope "is not yet illuminated by the fullness of revelation, which places it in relation with the divine promises and makes it a theological virtue," the Pope explained. "The sacred books of religions are open to hope in the measure in which they open a horizon of divine communion, delineating in history a goal of purification and salvation; they promote the search for truth and defend the values of life, of sanctity and justice, of peace and liberty," John Paul II said. "With this profound tension, which endures even in the midst of human contradictions, the religious experience opens men to the divine gift of charity and to its demands," the Pope continued.

-- (JPIIlovr@vol.com), December 30, 2000.