THE VATICAN has replied to an Italian newspaper's interview with Pope Francis that quoted the Pope as saying hell doesn't exist.
In an article for La Repubblica, journalist Eugenio Scalfari quoted the Pontiff as saying "there is no hell".
However the Vatican quickly claimed that the piece was not a “faithful transcription” of the Pope’s words.
In the piece, Scalfari asked Pope Francis about the fate of ‘bad souls’ who die in sin.
The Pope’s reply, as translated by Catholic blog Rorate Caeli, was: “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.”
However the Vatican was quick to distance the Pope from the remarks attributed to him in the paper.
In a statement, translated by the Catholic News Agency, they said: “What is reported by the author in today’s article is the result of his reconstruction, in which the literal 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.”
The Catholic News Agency also pointed out that Scalfari previously admitted misrepresenting the Pope’s words, with the journalist himself revealing he conducts all his interviews without taking notes or using a recording device.
