COMMENTARY: Pope Benedict XVI Needs to Remove His "Blinders"

Pope Benedict XVI opened a "can of worms" this week at the 25th annual international prayer meeting for peace in Assisi, Italy -- the birthplace of St. Francis.

The Pope said that "everyone knows that the Catholic Church is the only true path to salvation."

Does Pope Benedict believe that non-Catholic Christians -- such as various Protestant denominations and Eastern Orthodox worshipers -- are taking a false path that does not lead to salvation? It certainly sounds that way.

I can still remember over 50 years ago, when some Roman Catholics said -- and really believed -- that only Catholics can go to heaven. This belief seems to have faded away 30 or more years ago, as many Catholics themselves began to question -- and to reject -- several autocratic Catholic beliefs.

Some of these beliefs -- which have tended to erode the Catholic Church and to enhance secularism at the same time -- include the Catholic Church's inflexible views on birth control, abortions, gay lifestyles, and most recently, same-sex marriages.

Consequently, the Catholic Church must not be "the only true path to salvation," as a plethora of Catholics have been leaving that path for the last several decades, in search of a more realistic path in today's society.

The fact is that Pope Benedict needs to remove his "blinders" and accept the viability of other religions, just as he accepts Catholicism. Christianity, then, must not be torn apart by a "my house is better than your house" kind of mentality.

The Great Schism occurred in 1054, splitting Christianity into Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox divisions. In 1517, the Protestant Reformation began, and many countries in Western and Northern Europe changed their primary religion from Catholicism to Protestantism. Today, a huge number of Latin Americans are converting from Catholicism to Protestantism because they find the Catholic Church to be too rigid.

The Christian Church does not need any more divisions or rivalries. Rather, it needs to be harmonious, loving, and unified, as it prevails to achieve its goals in the empowering Body of Christ.