Pope Francis defends atheists

[Ryantology]

In Catholic theology, it is acceptable to believe that God put a human soul into the body of a creature that had evolved from lower forms of life. How long ago is beside the point. The Bible is not a science book. The author did not intend to teach us about science. There is no need to believe in a young earth. It is a spiritual book. The author intended to teach about God's relation to us. All we are required to believe is that evolution was caused and guided by God and that we are descended from one man and one woman.

There once was a point when it was not at all acceptable for Catholics to believe that the Bible was not literal truth. That Catholics are allowed to do so now is the result of the Church pragmatically understanding that conflicting with reality would make the church irrelevant at a faster pace. One might ask why God didn't clarify this centuries sooner, it could have done humanity (to say nothing of the religion itself) a lot of good.

Nevertheless, scientists have proposed the theory that we are all descended from "Mitochondrial Eve." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve

To be more precise, everyone living is descendant from "Mitochondrial Eve". There were countless bloodlines independent of hers that existed before ours and continued to exist alongside us for varying lengths of time. They died out and we did not. "Mitochondrial Eve" is nothing but an indication of an ancestral bottleneck, and that title is not fixed: many females have likely held that role throughout time and more may in the future if some disaster culls the human population to a significant enough level. There is also "Mitochondrial Adam", who has the same characteristics as "Eve" but did not live at the same time. It's not a theory which can support the Genesis story.

Pope Francis means that Jesus died for all mankind. Whether one chooses to respond or not is your free choice. It is our choice that determines our eternal destiny. God is both merciful and just. He offers us all we need to to enjoy eternal happiness with Him if one opens his/her heart to receive His love.

Yes, and that's fine. The problem lies in there being a horrifying punishment in store for those not accepting this offer. That is neither merciful nor just. That is outright criminal.

Everyone is capable of doing good. The world needs goodness! God has commanded us to do good because self-centeredness makes us unhappy, while serving others brings joy and peace.
When believers and non-believers work side-by-side, we begin to understand each other. That is a good thing.

I love that sentiment, but I am familiar enough with God's commandments to not agree with much of what God thinks of as 'good'.