Does the pope believe in hell?

Pat Buchanan: 'What did Christ die on the cross to save us from?'

By Pat Buchanan

(WND) “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.

In his letter Amoris Laetitia, “The Joy of Love,” the pope seemed to give approval to the receiving of Holy Communion by divorced and remarried Catholics, whose previous marriages had not been annulled, and whom the Church holds to be living in adultery.

Relying on the pope’s letter, German bishops have begun to authorize the distribution of Communion to divorced and remarried couples.

Cardinal Gerhard Muller, former prefect of the Vatican office for the Doctrine of the Faith, the position once held by Pope Benedict XVI, says this contradicts Catholic doctrine as enunciated by Pope John Paul II.

Said Cardinal Muller, “No power in heaven or on earth, neither an angel nor the pope, not a council, nor a law of the bishops has the faculty to change it.”

Four cardinals, including Raymond Burke of the United States, in a formal letter, asked the pope to clarify Amoris Laetitia. The pope did not, nor has he addressed the cardinals’ concerns.

Indeed, when asked early in his papacy about the immorality of homosexuality, the pope parried the question, “Who am I to judge?”

But if not thee, who? Is not the judging of right and wrong part of the job description?

Nor is it only in the realm of doctrine that the pope has sown confusion among the faithful.

To legalize the underground Catholic Church in China, the pope and the Vatican have agreed to ask Catholic bishops to stand aside for bishops approved by the Communist Party that seeks tighter control of Christian faiths.

The Vatican has also agreed to approve the consecration of a bishop named by Beijing, whom Rome previously regarded as illegitimate.

The capitulation is necessary for the Catholic Church in China to survive and prosper, argues the Vatican. But what kind of church will it become, asks retired Archbishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong.

The Vatican is “selling out” the Church in China, says the archbishop: “Some say that all the effort to reach an agreement is to avoid the ecclesial schism. How ridiculous! The schism is there, in the Independent Church!”

Archbishop Zen concedes his criticism of the Communist Party and the Vatican’s diplomatic efforts are causing problems in closing the rift between the underground Church and the Communist Party-sanctioned church, but he makes no apology: “Am I the major obstacle in the process of reaching a deal between the Vatican and China? If that is a bad deal, I would be more than happy to be the obstacle.”

There is a division inside Catholicism that is widening, between a Third World and traditional church that are growing, and a mainstream Church in Europe and here that is taking on aspects of the Anglican Church of the 20th century.

And how did that turn out, Your Holiness?

Happy Easter!

Link:

• Does the pope believe in hell?

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• Pope Francis’ alleged remarks about Hell. Fr. Z says, “Let not your heart be troubled.”

A Message to New York Catholic Seminarians

Pope Francis Is Not Saving Souls, But Losing Them

By Fr. Peter Carota

(Traditional Catholic Priest) Pope Francis’ concept of the Catholic Church is a welcoming home for all the Lesbians, Gays, Transgenders, Bisexual, divorced and remarried, Evangelicals and atheists.  He feels that these people have been oppressed by the Church by Her condemnation of these “sins” and he wants to welcome them into the “hospital church” to be accepted and healed.

 

I think he puts them in the same category as the poor, the unemployed youth and anyone else who may have been oppressed.  Although his compassion is to be commended, it is misplaced.   These people are living in sin and will go to hell if they are not corrected before they die.

 

The pope has a pattern.

1. He receives a letter from someone feeling alienated from the church because he is gay or had a “sex change”, (which is impossible genetically, a boy is always a boy no matter what operations he may use to change his exterior body. Boys have an X and a Y chromosome. Girls have two X chromsomes), or is divorced and remarried, or is a single mother separated from a violent boyfriend, who could have killed her baby by abortion but did not.
2. Then there comes the phone call from the pope to make them feel accepted by the “church”.
3. In some cases, they are invited to have a private audience with him.
4. Then somehow the media hears about it.
5. The liberals acclaim the pope as a hero.
6. Almost every Catholic and nonCatholic gets confused.
7. People begin to believe that the Catholic Church can, and has changed Her teachings on sexual morality.
8. Most Catholics who have already accepted the “world’s new morality” feel affirmed in their deviant life styles.
9. Their conscience is appeased because they have heard from the pope that their deviant life style is not immoral after all.
10. In fact it is something to celebrate and be proud of.
11. More people copy these sinful “Catholics” immoral life styles.

These same people continue to die at every age imaginable, every minute, all over the world and here are the consequences:

1. These people are judged by God’s rules, not Pope Francis’ rules.
2. These people may be damned to hell for all eternity.
3. Their souls are lost, not saved.

Now let us look at what then happens to someone who might disagree with the pope and instead, uphold what Jesus teaches in the Holy Bible and His 2000 year old Catholic Church.

1. Progressive blogs, media, clerics and people strongly condemn them as extremist.
2. They are immediately labeled as unloving and extremely judgmental.
3. If they happen to speak the truth at a parish or Catholic school, an angry group of opposition is organized against them.
4. They justify their anger, hate and persecution of that person by quoting “their loving pope” who says “Who am I to Judge” and “Do not talk about Abortion or Birth control”.
5. The cardinals, (like Cardinal Burke), religious, (like Franciscan Friars), priests or persons who spoke the Catholic truth, are then demoted, removed, silenced or punished.
6. All over the world, traditional Catholics are being persecuted and suppressed by the pope, bishops, religious and other priests.
7. Being a believing and traditional Catholic is the only “unforgivable sin”.

The very first Spiritual Work of Mercy is to Admonish the sinner.  Yes, we Bible believing and Catholic Church believing people also love and care about the sinners.  We love those struggling with same sex attraction or gender identity confusion or any sinful temptation and confusion.  But we help them to realize;

• Sin is still sin.
• God loves us and put His commandments to protect us.
• God is just.
• Any unconfessed mortal sin at time of death will condemn us to hell for all eternity.
• Heaven is our true home and where true pleasure is to be found.

 

Let us keep on speaking the Biblical and Catholic truth no matter how much we are persecuted, judged, condemned, hated, silenced, called extremist and black listed.  We are in great company with Jesus, St. John the Baptist and all the saints throughout history. Be a prophet of truth, you will be ridiculed, ostracized, called names, exiled and maybe soon, imprisoned or killed.  Jesus said: “Do not be afraid”.

 “Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.”  Matthew 5:11-12.

Link:

• Pope Francis Is Not Saving Souls, But Losing Them

Dead Branches