Pretty sure the Pope isn't espousing Annihilationism. What else do you envision Hell being, besides a "place"?
I find it amusing that many folks who poopoo the notion of Hell are usually familiar with the nature of black holes ... where time is stretched into infinity at the horizon of a star (hot, don'tchaknow) with such powerful gravity that even light will not escape it, where being inside would allow viewing of what is outside but outside cannot see inside.
If Hell is a "place" then it is part of a created universe where God is not!
Besides, God did create hell (eternal lake of fire) -- for the devil and his angels, who are noëtic beings without a body.
What would real fire and a real lake do to evil spirits? Why would there be a physical place for spiritual beings? Why would there be "real" (material) fire for that which is not material?
Seriously ... Do you think Heaven and Hell exist in space and time, the same as (let us say) Chicago? Do the terms of physical the physical realm really apply to the spiritual realm?
I think that the poster who questioned Hell being described as a place is questioning the use of a physical term being applied to a metaphysical condition.
I don’t even know if that is the correct terminology. I just clicked on this thread because I was waiting for someone to make fun of Rudy Giuliani for being a Catholic and ask whether or not he was going to Hell.