Pope Francis: better to be an atheist than a hypocritical Catholic

Although I admit the distinction is exceedingly fine, I don't think that is what he actually said:

How many times have we heard -- all of us, around the neighbourhood and elsewhere -- "but to be a Catholic like that, it's better to be an atheist."

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/02/23/pope_dont_put_off...

Pretty sensationalized headline by the Guardian - he didn't say that it's better to be atheist than a hypothetical Catholic, he was quoting a phrase other people use when referring to hypocritical Catholics.

Reading the article, he said “How many times have we all heard people say ‘if that person is a Catholic, it is better to be an atheist’”. It is not clear from the article if he actually is in full agreement with this statement, so to attribute the saying to the Pope, as in the title of this article, is not accurate.