Pope Francis Denies the Existence of Hell

Rorate Caeli | 03-29-2018

[NRx]

[Scalfari:] Your Holiness, in our previous meeting you told me that our species will disappear in a certain moment and that God, still out of his creative force, will create new species. You have never spoken to me about the souls who died in sin and will go to hell to suffer it for eternity. You have however spoken to me of good souls, admitted to the contemplation of God. But what about bad souls? Where are they punished?

[Francis:] "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."

[Huskrrrr]

He will be directly responsible for the lost souls that result from this comment.

[DoodleDawg]

If Hell is, by definition, a state of definitive exclusion from communion with God and those blessed enough to enjoy his presence then there is nothing wrong with Pope Frances’ statement. Hell is not a place, it is a condition. It is eternal separation from God.

[DuncanWaring]

Divine guidance?

[Mat_Helm]

Franciscus Pontifex tuus ipse est haereticus et hostes Dei per Evangelium et Ecclesia, et in veritate non defendere.

[Navy Patriot]

"Lucifer" is fantasy of supposition based on Biblical Revelation.

It is a lot of fun, hilarious, very human, has great music deftly supporting the storyline, and wildly Progressively Leftist.

What it has in common with Pope Frank is it's entertainment.

But "Lucifer" is better.

[FreedomOfExpression]

I'm not the one who made the original statement, but I found this reference online. http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/banned.htm

[Pajamajan]

WTH?!!!

[utahagen]

Yep. When I was in law school, one of the professors also happened to be a Protestant minister and gave an afterschool lecture about his ministry. Curious, I attended. He had been ordained in the United Church of Christ and attended a Congregational Church every Sunday. I knew that this denomination is the loosest when it comes to creeds of the Mainline Protestant denominations, yet I still was surprised by how vague the beliefs of the sincere, thoughtful man were. One thing I recall clearly: he said, “Well, we don't know that Jesus actually rose from the dead, but perhaps we can hope that spiritually he lives on in some way.” And this was an ordained minister in that denomination, talking about the CENTRAL tenant of Christian faith! At least, however, he was being honest about his beliefs, and was expressing HOPE. Right now, the Catholic Church is led by a FRAUD who pretends to uphold beliefs he obviously rejects, as he undermines them at every turn. God, save your Church!

[Campion]

I’m under the understanding that when the pope speaks on biblical matters he’s correct.

Babbling to a journalist isn't formal teaching. He has attempt to teach (a) definitively and (b) to the whole church for infallibility to come into play.

[liberalh8ter]

Is this guy Catholic? Christian? Is Jorge Bergoglio the equivalent of Chauncey Gardner? So many questions!

[circlecity]

Any sincere Christian can claim Divine guidance and have just as much to back them up.

[Campion]

Until recently it was not advisable for Catholics to even read the Bible.

What do "recently" and "advisable" mean here? Private Bible reading has been indulgenced since the 1920's at least. It's hard for the Church to make it more "advisable" than that.

[rdl6989]

Okay now I really think this pope has a mental incapacity. This man is getting stranger by the day.

[NRx]

Actually according to Rorate this interview was published today.

[rdl6989]

Scary isn’t it?

[DuncanWaring]

Except that Catholic clergy have a line of succession going back to the original Apostles.

[ealgeone]

>>Until recently it was not advisable for Catholics to even read the Bible.<<

What do "recently" and "advisable" mean here? Private Bible reading has been indulgenced since the 1920's at least. It's hard for the Church to make it more "advisable" than that.

That's a considerable change for the RCC who previously didn't want their members to read the Scriptures for themselves.

Considering we've had the Scriptures for a pretty good while, the shift in the 1920s is fairly recent for the Roman Catholic.

[freedumb2003]

The actor is what makes it work.

But I always sort of go there with these types of shows. On ST:TNG I ask things like “does Data have a soul? If so, when/how did it get inserted? What about Riker’s transporter clone? If there are multiple omniscient species how do they co-exist? Does that make God super-omnscient?

I know the answer is “relax, it is just a TV show” but still...

[redgolum]

I am correctable, but I know of no modern mechanism to remove a heretic pope.

In the past, councils had the power, but with the victory of papal supremacy, that is no long possible.

A work around would be to say “He is not a Pope any more since he said X”. However, who has the power to say THAT!

[Songcraft]

This clown is in direct contradiction here to the plain teachings on hell spelled out in the "Catechism of the Catholic Church", promulgated by "Pope Saint John Paul The Great".   Go to this section of that Catechism to read the crux of the Church's teachings on hell, especially paragraph #1035, shown here:

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire".   The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.