Religion has become one of the most flouted and exploited terms in the world. People have killed in the name of religion and people have burned in the name of religion. And to add to that, it doesn’t help that almost all of our religious leaders propagate a flawed idea of what appeals to their own religious motive. Religion has become a commodity. 

And so, it comes to us as a breath of fresh air when Pope Francis, the current head of the Vatican and head of the Roman Catholic community across the world decides to call out the hypocrites with one strong statement. On Thursday, the Pope condemned members of the Church who lead double and hypocritical lives, suggesting that it was better to be an atheist, instead. 

Vox

“It is a scandal to say one thing and do another. That is a double life,” he said during one of his private morning Mass sermons, at his residence. “There are many Catholics who are like this and they cause scandal. How many times have we all heard people say, 'if that person is a Catholic, it is better to be an atheist'.” 

Pope Francis, who was elected in 2013 as the head of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church, has never spared words when it comes to speaking only the truth. He has always been the flag bearer for practicing what is being preached in Catholic doctrine and therefore, as a religious leader, he remains one of the most popular ones in the modern world. 

We wish more leaders were like him.