Pope Francis didn’t say that “there is no hell” as reported by a renowned Italian journalist, the Vatican has clarified.
An article that was published on La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper on Thursday claimed that the Pontiff told Eugenio Scalfari, 93, a well-known journalist, that “there is no hell”.
However, the Vatican said “no quotations” in the article “should be considered as a faithful transcription” of the Pope’s remarks.
It clarified that the article was based on a private meeting the Pope Francis had with Scalfari. Catholic Church’s doctrine affirms the existence of hell and its eternity.
“The souls of sinners descend into hell, where they suffer eternal fire”, the Catholic Catechism teaches.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the top most Catholic in England and Wales, said “there’s nowhere in Catholic teaching that actually says any one person is in hell”.
Speaking to BBC, Nichols said that Pope Francis was apparently exploring “the imagery of hell – fire and brimstone and all of that”.
“That’s never been part of Catholic teaching, it’s been part of Catholic iconography, part of Christian iconography,” he said.
In his article, Scalfari, an avowed atheist, said that he asked the Pope where “bad souls” go and where they are punished.
“Souls are not punished,” the Pope replied as quoted in the daily.
“Those who repent obtain God’s forgiveness and go among the ranks of those who contemplate him, but those who do not repent and cannot be forgiven disappear. There is no hell – there is the disappearance of sinful souls,” he added.
The Vatican clarified the meeting between the two was not an interview, but a private meeting and that Scalfari’s article “is the fruit of his reconstruction”.
Thanks Pope for saying the…
Thanks Pope for saying the unthinkable and coming out clean, even if denials galore are that you didn’t say so. The doctrine of hell and heaven ni ya kukamua watu in the only world there ever is, by promising them eternal bliss if they “accept” or eternal?fire and brimstone, if they don’t. Now at least we have improved – we’ll vanish rather than burn ololoyaye!
The Roman Catholic Church is…
The Roman Catholic Church is a global criminal racketeering organization, here to use and abuse the human family to keep itself alive with new vulnerable minds. Targeting birth control and abortion is the main control mechanism, forcing women and girls to punch out product for the dirty Church. Telling people not to wear condoms keep those overall numbers up, even if some vulnerable Catholics get AIDs and die.