Posted on 03/29/2018 8:52:49 AM PDT by Red Badger
In another interview with his longtime atheist friend, Eugenio Scalfari, Pope Francis claims that Hell does not exist and that condemned souls just "disappear." This is a denial of the 2,000-year-old teaching of the Catholic Church about the reality of Hell and the eternal existence of the soul.
The interview between Scalfari and the Pope was published March 28, 2018 in La Repubblica. The relevant section on Hell was translated by the highly respected web log, Rorate Caeli.
The interview is headlined, "The Pope: It is an honor to be called revolutionary." (Il Papa: “È un onore essere chiamato rivoluzionario.")
Scalfri says to the Pope, "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?"
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." Painting of Jesus rejecting the Devil's temptations in the desert.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "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." (1035)
The Catechism further states, "The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: 'Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.'
"Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where 'men will weep and gnash their teeth.'" (YouTube)
Pope Benedict XVI said in a 2007 sermon, “Jesus came to tell us that he wants us all in Heaven and that Hell, of which so little is said in our time, exists and is eternal for those who close their hearts to his love.”
As for the human soul, the Catholic Church teaches that it is eternal, immortal in countless places throughout the Catechism. One instance, "Endowed with 'a spiritual and immortal' soul, the human person is 'the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake.' From his conception, he is destined for eternal beatitude." (1703)
Who cares what the Catholic Church says. Jesus Himself plainly and clearly taught and warned about hell. It exists no matter what the pope or anyone else says
Christ only promised eternal life to the believers, not an eternal life of another sort to the damned. The only eternal aspect of their fate is the finality of it, the death of the soul. Theologically speaking.
The Pope invents his own theology.
So, you think what, people are just disembodied souls floating around in heaven now, and the resurrection is only meant to give them new bodies?
No.
lol
He needs to quit saying anything to an Athiest who has no real understanding of what he’s saying. His statement was likely that there may not be a physical place called hell, that it is a state. Certainly none of us know if it’s a physical place or not.
Not this Pope - how many times has he preached Jesus?
I bet it freezes over every now and then................
Did you ever notice when Pope Francis came on the scene, we stopped seeing Richard Simmons? Strange.
The Vatican denies.
Matthew 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (KJV BBE)
Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (KJV WBS)
Mark 3:29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. (KJV WBS)
Mark 12:40 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. (KJV WBS)
Luke 20:47 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation. (KJV WBS)
John 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (KJV WBS)
Romans 3:8 And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just. (KJV WBS)
Romans 13:2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. (KJV WBS)
1 Corinthians 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. (KJV)
1 Timothy 5:12 Having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith. (KJV WBS)
2 Peter 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (KJV WBS)
Seems to me that it’s very clear that some will receive ‘greater damnation’ than others- if there is no hell- if the body and soul are simply ‘destroyed’ then these verses listed above are meaningless since ‘destruction’ is equally ‘damning’ to all who reject Christ- yet clearly this is not what the bible teaches- the bible teaches that all will be damned, eternally, some to a greater extent than others
I didn’t see him even before.......................
The following is from the mouth of the guy who has been said to be in charge of “all Christianity”:
“Scalfri says to the Pope, “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?”
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.”
Why “contemplate”, when you don’t get your butt kicked, for “not contemplating”?
Why consider the afterlife, if you either ‘exist or don’t’? Isn’t that near to the same as those that go along with ‘you only live once, or, yolo’?
Since this guy is SUPPOSED to be the BE ALL/END ALL as to arguments concerning The Bible, and this guy ain’t no way nears 50 years old, what about the NEXT guy, if that guy says this guy is full of baloney? What then?
Looks to me to be a copycat of the Soviet change of leadership: “Stalin is dead. He was bad for the country, said Krushchev.” “Kruschchev is dead. he was bad for the country, said his replacement, and so on”.
Not Catholic myself, although I went with my father in law last summer to his small seaside Catholic church for the Father’s Day service and it was lovely, but I imagine Catholics are freaking out over this guy.
In this case, no.
Are you sure it wasn’t graham crackers?
Pope Francis is a liar. He just called Jesus one too.
Still, people flock to him to their demise.
took a lot of Blood, Sweat and Tears to get this old.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.