Pat Buchanan nails it in a recent article:
“Pope Declares No Hell?”
So ran the riveting headline on the Drudge Report of Holy Thursday.
Drudge quoted this exchange, published in La Repubblica, between Pope Francis and his atheist friend, journalist Eugenio Scalfari.
Scalfari: “What about bad souls? Where are they punished?”
Bad souls “are not punished,” Pope Francis is quoted, “those who do not repent and cannot therefore be forgiven disappear. There is no hell, there is the disappearance of sinful souls.”
On the first Holy Thursday, Judas betrayed Christ. And of Judas the Lord said, “Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man shall be betrayed; it were better for him if that man had never been born.”
Did the soul of Judas, and those of the monstrous evildoers of history, “just fade away,” as Gen. Douglas MacArthur said of old soldiers? If there is no hell, is not the greatest deterrent to the worst of sins removed?
What did Christ die on the cross to save us from?
If Francis made such a statement, it would be rank heresy.
Had the pope been speaking ex cathedra, as the vicar of Christ on earth, he would be contradicting 2,000 years of Catholic doctrine, rooted in the teachings of Christ himself. He would be calling into question papal infallibility, as defined in 1870 by the Vatican Council of Pius IX.
Questions would arise as to whether Francis is a true pope.
The Vatican swiftly issued a statement saying the pope had had a private conversation, not a formal interview, with his friend, Scalfari.
The Vatican added: “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.”
Sorry, but this will not do. This does not answer the questions the pope raised in his chat. Does hell exist? Are souls that die in mortal sin damned to hell for all eternity? Does the pope accept this belief? Is this still the infallible teaching of the Roman Catholic Church?
However one may applaud Francis’ stance on social justice, on matters of faith and morals he has called defined doctrine into question and created confusion throughout the Church he heads. Read the rest HERE
REMNANT COMMENT: Conservative defenders of the indefensible (aka Pope Franchise) have to be among the most obstinate folks on the face of the earth. In fact, defending what’s going on at this point requires a capacity for self-deception that borders on schizophrenia.
In this latest heretical blooper there’s simply no defense for Francis because it’s clearly all Francis’s doing. Whether he actually denied the existence of Hell or not, he’s the one that invited Scalfari to a private meeting, even though he knows all about Scalfari's penchant for jotting down notes and quoting people from memory.
Francis has worked with Scalfari before. They are old friends. His only option at this point then—if in fact he did not deny the existence of Hell—is to come right out and deny the alleged denial. In fact, the only reason why Francis would not do so is if he is, in fact, guilty as hel...well guilty. He knows he said it. Scalfari knows he said it. He can’t deny it without totally discrediting his old atheist buddy Eugenio Scalfari. And we all know how fiercely loyal the Argentinian pope is to his friends...
So let’s get ready for another dose of fire and brimstone from Francis this week all about the multitudinous evils of fake news. And the folks demanding clarity where the Pope's views on the existence of Hell are concerned? Well, they can all go to…well, they can all disappear!
