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Well, hot damn. Good news for the Catholics. "There is no hell", declared Pope Francis in an interview with long time friend Eugenio Scalfari, as published two days ago in La Repubblica. In the same interview apparently the Pope said he was honored to be called "revolutionary". No kidding!
This is as about as monumental as President Trump coming out and saying he has appointed an illegal alien from Honduras as the new US Attorney General. No, actually this is bigger. Amazing. Of course the Vatican quickly came out and reassured the 1.29 billion members of the Church that the interview was not accurate as printed and that indeed, there is a hell. Phew! Close call.
But one wonders, not if there is a hell, but if the Pope really said this. If indeed the Pope did say this in an interview, and then stands by his pronouncement then there will be at least one Catholic that will experience hell. The Pope. And he won't have to wait until he leaves this mortal body to experience it. There will be an absolute uproar. I mean the reality of hell and that it is waiting for sinners is fundamental in the history and doctrines of the Church. We can only speculate, at this moment, what the Pope will do, but I suspect he will stick by his words if, indeed, he said them. If he does stick to his guns then this will present a massive challenge to the Church...whether to accept this as Doctrine, as the word of God spoken through His appointed Voice, or declare the Pope is off his rocker.
Who knows maybe this will be seen as a "sign of the times", a certain indication that the Church has gone to hell. But in the meantime, what would it mean if the Catholic Church accepted this as doctrine? Which thing I can't imagine, but Holy Cow, what if they did? It would change everything. I mean this would be a massive shift in the tectonic plates that underlie the very foundations of the Church. Would members no longer be encouraged to repent? I mean why should they? And if there is no Hell, then what of the Devil? If you believe in US and EU propaganda then maybe the new devil will be Putin. Or maybe the Devil will come to be seen as just our inner human desires to satisfy the demands of our survival instincts. I don't know if the membership of the Church should celebrate or simply say, "Oh to hell with it!" But you can guarantee that The Pope is feeling the heat today!