Pope Francis - Hell Does Not Exist

[Cheerful Charlie]

https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/pope-francis-there-no-hell

Pope Francis says, "They are not punished, those who repent obtain the forgiveness of God and enter the rank of souls who contemplate him, but those who do not repent and cannot therefore be forgiven disappear. There is no hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls."

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This is going to cause some fur to fly.

However, there seems to be some backtracking going on now.

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* In a statement released on Mar. 29, after Scalfari's report garnered worldwide attention, the Vatican said:
"The Holy Father Francis recently received the founder of the newspaper La Repubblica in a private meeting on the occasion of Easter, without however giving him any interviews. What is reported by the author in today’s article [in La Repubblica] is the result of his reconstruction, in which the textual words pronounced by the Pope are not quoted. No quotation of the aforementioned article must therefore be considered as a faithful transcription of the words of the Holy Father."

 

[Politesse]

Scalfari has a history of making dubious reports about shocking things the Pontiff supposedly said to him, always in private conversation with no other witnesses. Color me doubtful that he understood whatever Francis actually said. Soul annihilation is a real theology, and I could imagine it coming up in conversation in a "some Christians believe" sort of way. But the current Pope has been more than clear in the past about his position on the hereafter, I doubt he would suddenly reverse his position, and choose a private conversation with an atheist activist as the perfect moment to announce his change of heart.

 

[southernhybrid]

I can't link it right now, but there was a piece in today's NYTimes that said the pope contradicted the claim that he doesn't believe in hell. But, the nice thing about this pope is that, despite the fact that an afterlife is a absurd idea for most of us here, the pope believes that our final destination will be due to our works and deeds, and not by our beliefs. I can't say the same about most of the Christians that I know personally.

I personally tend to think this pope has doubts about whether or not a god exists, but of course, I can't read his mind. He's certainly far more liberal than previous popes in my lifetime. I understand the need to change the nature of Catholicism by taking baby steps, so I actually like a lot of things that this pope has said and is doing. He doesn't think he's above anyone else. He literally washes the feet of prisoners, and lives a rather simple life. He enjoys discussing things with a well known atheist, and has told Christians not to bother trying to convince atheists that god exists. In fact, I've read that he encourages Catholics to engage in discussions with atheists. I like the guy, despite the criticism I might get from other atheists. I"m not an absolutist and neither is this pope, which is part of the reason I like him.