Hell, it's not true… or is itIJ Vatican denies Pope’s denial of hell, leaving us a bit confused
Go forth and sin. For, there is no comeuppance. Because there is no hell, or so said the Pope. But he didn't, it transpires. Alas, it was one of us, i.e. a journalist presumably earning the wages of sin, who was to blame.
Eugenio Scalfari, 93, an avowed atheist and founder of the well-known la Repubblica newspaper who has struck up a fascinating and by all accounts warm intellectual relationship with the reformist Pope Francis, met the pontiff recently and published a report based in his newspaper on the interaction which included a question-answer session in which the Pope was quoted as having denied the existence of hell, at least in a literal sense. When asked where “bad souls” go and whether they are punished, he was quoted as having said: “They are not punished. Those who repent obtain God's forgiveness and take their place among the ranks of those who contemplate Him, but those who do not repent and cannot be forgiven disappear. A hell does not exist, the disappearance of sinning souls exists.” The Vatican issued a statement saying the article did not “properly reflect” what the Pope had said.
In a sense, it's a pity. Because a close reading of the statement attributed to the most revolutionary head of the Catholic Church in centuries implied the allegoric and metaphorical nature of aspects of Christian theology were not necessarily meant to be taken literally. He did not, of course, as his critics — and there are many including the still predominantly conservative Cardinals in the Vatican itself-suggest tell believers that there would be no price to pay for leading a life antithetical to the teachings of Christ and the Church. On the contrary, his reported allusion to the “disappearance” of “bad souls” who do not repent implies they would not be around to partake of the true Christian life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Also, his implied tweaking of the doctrine of crime and punishment would have stirred panic among the traditionalists including his predecessor who though very frail now is known not to be simpatico to his successor's "modern" theological ideas. But, at any rate, there is a denial in place and we must take it at face value. On a lighter note, however, those rushing for their thesaurus to look up synonyms for the phrase ‘just desserts' and the like which emanate epistemologically from the notion of 'sin' should hold their horses for now. Ditto, budding academics thinking about bashing out a quickie on reappraising Dante's Inferno. It will be a while yet before the true nature of all things between heaven, hell and that which is betwixt is revealed. In the meanwhile, have a great, if possible sinless week.