8.168. Didn’t Pope John Paul II say there are rays of truth in all religions? Isn’t that just acknowledging what’s good in others?
On October 27, 1986, during the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi, Antipope John Paul II stated:
“I see in the great religions of the world a certain ray of that truth which enlightens all men.”
This statement was delivered in the context of a gathering where representatives of dozens of false religions—including animists, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Shintoists, and Protestants—were invited to pray publicly for peace in their own false rites, each according to their beliefs. John Paul II presided over this event not as a missionary, but as a co-participant, treating all religions as legitimate expressions of man’s search for God.
At first, his words may sound generous or respectful. But in truth, this idea is profoundly scandalous and theologically false. It suggests that the Catholic Church can recognize salvific “rays of truth” in all religions, as if these man-made systems—many of which explicitly deny Christ—are somehow willed or blessed by God.
The Church has always taught that false religions are works of man or the devil, that only the Catholic Faith contains the fullness of revealed truth, and that any participation in false worship is gravely sinful. The mere acknowledgment of partial truth in a false system does not justify the system itself, much less permit public prayer with its ministers.
The Assisi event (and statements like this) amounted to public apostasy, violating the First Commandment and mocking the martyrs who died rather than acknowledge false gods.
| Category | Traditional Catholic Teaching | John Paul II / Assisi View | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nature of False Religions | Errors and idolatries to be rejected and converted | Contain “rays of truth” that enlighten humanity | Contradicts divine revelation and implies salvific value in error |
| Public Prayer with Non-Catholics | Gravely sinful and scandalous; forbidden | Encouraged and celebrated publicly | Violates the First Commandment and Church law |
| Salvation | Only in the Catholic Church by grace and true faith | Suggested as possible through many religions | Denies the necessity of conversion to the true Faith |
| Church’s Role | Teacher of all nations, guardian of the one true Faith | One among many contributors to peace and moral insight | Reduces the Church to a participant in pluralist dialogue |
| Fruits | Conversions, martyrdom, clarity of mission | Indifferentism, confusion, apostasy | “By their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:16) |
Summary:
By stating that the “great religions” contain “rays of truth,” John Paul II affirmed false religions as spiritually beneficial, which directly contradicts the Catholic dogma that outside the Church there is no salvation (Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus). His actions in Assisi blurred the line between truth and error, placing the Church on equal footing with idolaters and heretics.
This was not ecumenism. It was apostasy in liturgical form—a betrayal of Christ and the martyrs, who gave their lives rather than offer incense to false gods. The Church is not one religion among many. She is the only Ark of Salvation, and to affirm otherwise is to deny Christ’s kingship and mission.
“All the gods of the Gentiles are devils.”
“What concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever?”
Let the faithful reject this false humanist unity and return to the one true Faith, uncompromising and unchanging.