If only all of us could cry like Emanuele when we feel sorrow like he does in his heart. He was crying for his dad, and he had the courage to do it before all of us, because he has love for his dad in his heart. I asked Emanuel permission to repeat his question in public, and he said yes. So I’ll say it out loud: “A short time ago, my dad died. He was an atheist, but he had all four of his children baptized. He was a good man. Is Dad in heaven?” What a beautiful thing, that a son says of his father, “He was good.” That man gave a beautiful testimony to his children, for his children to be able to say, “He was a good man.” It’s a beautiful testimony on the part of the son that he has inherited his dad’s strength, and also, that he has had the courage to cry before all of us. If that man was capable of raising children like this, it’s true, he was a good man. He was a good man. That man didn’t have the gift of faith, he wasn’t a believer, but he had his children baptized. He had a good heart. And [Emanuele] is doubting whether or not his dad, not having been a believer, is in Heaven. God is the one who decides who goes to heaven. But how does God’s heart react to a Dad like that? How? What do you think? … A dad’s heart! God has the heart of a father. And faced with a dad, a non-believer, who was able to have his children baptized and to give them that courage, do you think that God would be capable of leaving him far from Him? Do you think so? … Say it loudly, with courage…
All: No!
Pope Francis: Does God abandon his children?
All: No!
Pope Francis: Does God abandon His children when they are good?
All: No!
Pope Francis: There you go, Emanuele, this is your answer. God surely was proud of your dad, because it’s easier to have your children baptized when you are a believer, than to have them baptized when you are not a believer. Surely, this pleased God greatly. Talk with your father, pray to your father. Thank you, Emanuele, for your courage.
We’ve spoken about his dad, and our dad is God. Let us all pray to our dad, God.
“Our Father…”.
Did Emanuele's father pass away an atheist? This blogger is not so sure. The Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say, quoted without references [3] [Emphasis added]:
Since it rejects or denies the existence of God, atheism is a sin against the virtue of religion. The imputability of this offense can be significantly diminished in virtue of the intentions and the circumstances. "Believers can have more than a little to do with the rise of atheism. To the extent that they are careless about their instruction in the faith, or present its teaching falsely, or even fail in their religious, moral, or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than to reveal the true nature of God and of religion."
The faith of Emanuele's father in God was made clear by having his four children baptized. When a man denies or rejects the existence of God, why would he bring his children to church to be baptized? Emanuele's father probably had more faith in God in his heart than some who profess to be Christians. How much faith he had at every moment of his life only he and God knew.
This blogger believes that Emanuele's father is in Heaven and speculates that Emanuele's father might have become an atheist (by name only) because there could have been so-called believers in the faith who had failed him repeatedly in ways that he did not wish to reveal, and that God loved him very much and brought him home early. Emanuele's father is now watching over his family from Heaven is taking care of Emanuele with unceasing love.
Quoting a prayer from Divinum Officium (pre-Trident Monastic) in Latin and in English [4]:
Fidélium ánimæ per misericórdiam Dei requiéscant in pace. Amen.
May the souls of the faithful, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
[1] https://aleteia.org/2018/04/16/crying-little-boy-asks-pope-if-his-atheist-dad-could-be-in-heaven/
[2] Ibid.
[3] http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc2.htm, paragraph 2125.
[4] http://divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl
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