The Vatican has denied that Pope Francis told a well-known Italian journalist that "there is no hell".
The quote came in an article in Italy's La Repubblica daily. But the Vatican said "no quotations" in the article "should be considered as a faithful transcription" of the Pope's words.
The Vatican said the article was based on a private meeting the Pope had with the daily's founder, Eugenio Scalfari.
Catholic Church doctrine affirms the existence of hell and its eternity.
The souls of sinners descend into hell, where they suffer "eternal fire", the Catholic catechism states.
However, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the most senior Catholic in England and Wales, said "there's nowhere in Catholic teaching that actually says any one person is in hell".
He told the BBC that the Pope was apparently exploring "the imagery of hell - fire and brimstone and all of that".
"That's never been part of Catholic teaching, it's been part of Catholic iconography, part of Christian iconography," he said.
For some reason I was thinking about this in my sleep last night. And it came to me that although I completely understand the erudite intellectual nature of his message, nonetheless this Pope is changing the fundamental bastions of Christianity as it has been since the beginning. This Pope is Pope Obama. He is fundamentally transforming thousands of years of Catholic thoughts and traditions. And he is doing it right before Easter too?
Once he starts stuttering, uh, uh, uh, now let me be clear. Those bitter clingers are evil. Then I will know for sure that he has truly become Pope Obama completely.
Fair Disclosure: Although I have dated Catholic women and have attended Catholic services, I am not Catholic. I know about Catholicism loosely, and have some experience with, and respect for, those traditions, but that is all. I didn't want to give anyone the wrong impression of me. As you may have guessed, I am worldly and religious studies are a hobby of mine.
But if I was a Catholic, I'd be fantastic at it. Speaking Hebrew, some Latin, some German, no Greek though. LOL!