From the time I was a child at Catholic catechism classes, I always knew that to be in hell was to be forever separated from the loving God, our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. So, neither Pope John Paul II or Pope Benedict are really in disagreement as to the existence of hell or what it's meaning is. Furthermore, the doctrine is still the same as it was from the time of Jesus Christ.
What do you mean by "to be in hell was to be forever separated from the loving God"? Are implying there is some place or some existence where God is not present? Is hell not created by God also? Aren't all things that exist brought into existence by God?