Pope letter to an atheist

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/09/full-text-of-popes-letter-to-atheist.html#more The ACTUAL letter to the atheist, with what the Pope REALLY said about God's forgiveness

 

As for the three questions you asked me in the article of August 7th. It would seem to me that in the first two, what you are most interested in is understanding the Church's attitude towards those who do not share faith in Jesus. First of all, you ask if the God of the Christians forgives those who do not believe and do not seek faith. Given that - and this is fundamental - God's mercy has no limits *****IF***** HE WHO ASKS FOR MERCY DOES SO IN CONTRITION and with a sincere heart, the issue for those who do not believe in God is in obeying their own conscience. In fact, listening and obeying it, means deciding about what is perceived to be good or to be evil. The goodness or the wickedness of our behavior depends on this decision.

 

He's hardly said anything remotely what the newspapers are claiming. In fact his qualifier is ignored by pretty much everyone. If anything the pope is accusing Atheists of NOT obeying their conscience. Some how people get "atheists go to heaven" from the pope saying atheists need to ask God for forgiveness and follow their conscience. Saying their is a condition for atheists getting forgiven is completely the opposite of the media spin. How can an atheist receive forgiveness of sins if the do not believe in sin, God's mercy since they do not even believe in God, obviously the Pope is saying the atheists must repent of their unbelief or die unforgiven.