Pope Francis Confirms Doctrine Of The Resurrection Will Last “Forever”

Paul Haring/Catholic News Service.

The Church’s belief that Jesus rose from the dead will stand forever, Pope Francis said Tuesday.

The 79-year-old pontiff made the declaration in response to a reporter who asked whether he thought the Church would always insist that Jesus actually rose from the dead.

“St. Pope John Paul II had the last clear word on this and it stands,” Francis said during a news conference aboard the papal plane.

The reporter then went on to ask, “Forever, forever?”

“If we read carefully the declaration by St. John Paul II, it is going in that direction,” the pope responded. “St. John Paul II said, ‘In order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to do away with the Resurrection, and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.’”

The reporter followed the Pope’s statement by insisting that many people have long rejected the “archaic notion” that Jesus rose from the dead, namely atheists, agnostics, and “members of many other religions as well.”

“Do you not believe that this antiquated belief is a barrier to your desire for reconciliation with other world religions and philosophies?” the reporter asked.

“You know what? I’m going to go ahead and confirm a few more things for you,” Pope Francis responded.”Let me tell you what else I’m going to confirm. I hereby confirm that the Cubs will lose the World Series. I will also confirm that the Cubs will take another 71 years to get to the World Series and that the Padres will take 71 years to get to a .500 record. I confirm that you are going to continue to ask me stupid questions. Lastly, and more importantly, I confirm that I’m kind of shocked that I just gave a plane interview and confused no Catholics about my stance.”