8.152. Didn’t Pope Francis say that the diversity of religions is willed by God? Isn’t that just acknowledging free will and mutual respect?
Yes, Antipope Francis signed a document in Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019, which stated:
“The pluralism and the diversity of religions, colour, sex, race and language are willed by God in His wisdom.”
This single line has become one of the clearest and most public acts of apostasy committed by a Vatican II claimant to the papacy. While God permits false religions to exist due to man’s free will, it is blasphemous and heretical to say that He wills the existence of religions that deny Christ, promote idolatry, or contradict divine revelation.
The true Catholic Faith teaches that God wills only the true religion—the one He revealed and established in Christ, namely, the Catholic Church. To claim that God positively wills the existence of Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, or any false creed is to assert that God wills lies, heresy, and idolatry—a blasphemy that violates the First Commandment.
This idea is not a slip of the tongue. It is consistent with Vatican II’s ecumenical and interreligious agenda, as seen in Nostra Aetate and Dignitatis Humanae. But such thinking was condemned by every pope before Vatican II, including Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius XI, and Pius XII, all of whom reaffirmed that error has no rights, and that false religions must be rejected—not praised.
| Category | Traditional Catholic Teaching | Francis / Abu Dhabi Statement | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| God’s Will | God wills the Catholic Faith; permits error only as a consequence of free will | God positively wills the diversity of religions | This makes God the author of heresy, false worship, and blasphemy—an open heresy |
| Truth | Truth is one, absolute, and found only in the Catholic Church | Truth is diffused across multiple religions | This denies the uniqueness of Christ and the Church He founded |
| Non-Catholic Religions | False, man-made systems that must be rejected and converted | Willed by God and to be embraced in fraternal coexistence | Contradicts Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus and the First Commandment |
| Evangelization | Essential duty of the Church: convert all nations to Christ | Unnecessary; religions coexist as equally willed by God | This destroys the Church’s mission and leads souls to perdition |
| Historical Papal Teaching | Pius IX, Leo XIII, Pius XI, Pius XII condemned religious indifferentism | Francis affirms it in a public interreligious document | This reveals an irreconcilable rupture with Catholic tradition |
Summary:
The claim that “the diversity of religions is willed by God” is a formal heresy. It denies the uniqueness of the Catholic Faith, rejects Christ’s command to evangelize, and implies that God contradicts Himself by willing mutually exclusive beliefs.
True Catholics must reject this blasphemy. God permits evil, but He never wills it. He wills all men to know the truth and be saved—not to remain in error.
As Pope Leo XIII taught:
“To hold that there are many religions equally good and equally pleasing to God is a most dangerous error.”
Francis’s words in Abu Dhabi proves that he did not hold the Catholic Faith, and therefore was not a true pope. He preached the religion of man, not the Gospel of Christ.