Pope: Atheists better than Hypocritical Catholics

Since the election of Pope Francis, the media has been taking his words out of context and fabricating all kinds of stories. They are at it again.  It is no wonder why President Trump says the media is the enemy of the people!  A week ago, the pope made some statements which the media twisted. Throughout the media world, headlines read, "Pope Francis says it is better to be an atheist than hypocritical Catholic!"  Immediately, Protestants, American Conservatives and Catholic "traditionalists" attacked the pope calling him a heretic and what not. However, if these people bothered to do research they would realize that they jumped to conclusions and slandered the pope. The pope did not say what the media said he said!  This is what he actually stated:

“But what is scandal? Scandal is saying one thing and doing another; it is a double life, a double life. A totally double life: ‘I am very Catholic, I always go to Mass, I belong to this association and that one; but my life is not Christian, I don’t pay my workers a just wage, I exploit people, I am dirty in my business, I launder money…’ A double life. And so many Christians are like this, and these people scandalize others.
How many times have we heard – all of us, around the neighborhood and elsewhere – ‘but to be a Catholic like that, it’s better to be an atheist.’ It is that, scandal. You destroy. You beat down. And this happens every day, it’s enough to see the news on TV, or to read the papers. In the papers there are so many scandals, and there is also the great publicity of the scandals. And with the scandals there is destruction.”

As you can see, he is not saying that it is better to be atheist.  What he is saying is what others tell Catholics who are hypocritical. Context means everything!  The dishonest media once again twisted the Holy Father's words in order to create media frenzy. Please do not believe everything the media says regarding the pope and the Catholic Church.  Always vet the information and find original sources.  The media lies a lot!





Source:

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/02/23/pope_dont_put_off_conversion,_give_up_a_double_life/1294470

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pope-suggests-better-atheist-hypocritical-catholic-163550834.html

https://churchpop.com/2017/02/23/no-pope-francis-did-not-say-its-better-to-be-an-atheist-than-a-bad-catholic/

http://www.wnd.com/2017/02/pope-better-to-be-atheist-than-bad-believer/

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/world/pope-atheists-again/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/02/23/pope-francis-praises-the-torah-and-suggests-its-better-to-be-an-atheist-than-a-bad-catholic/?utm_term=.014dbb3d94aa

http://nypost.com/2017/02/23/pope-its-better-to-be-an-atheist-than-a-hypocritical-catholic/