Good news for atheists

Perhaps you’ve heard the good news. According to Pope Francis, even atheists can go to heaven.  Of course, as an atheist, I don’t believe in any afterlife, let alone heaven. It’s a bit like being told I get to go to Middle-earth. Nevertheless, I think most atheists are pleased by the surprisingly favorable shout-out.

I don’t claim to know what prompted the Pope to make this rather extraordinary pronouncement. Perhaps he thought this news would entice the growing numbers of atheists to join the Catholic church. Though even if we did secretly believe in heaven, a common misconception about atheists, thanks to Francis’ homily, we don’t need to join the church to get there. We just have to do good deeds. If that's not a win-win situation, I don't know what is.

Whatever his motivation, the announcement did not sit well with church officials. The Vatican is busily walking back this statement from their infallible leader. Apparently, when he said atheists could get into heaven, what he really meant was that they could get into heaven after converting to Catholicism and accepting Jesus. 

To be honest, I don’t mind either way. I think it’s nice that the Pope acknowledged that we atheists exist and that it’s possible for us to be good people. That’s progress.