Pope hasn’t abolished sin: Vatican

Vatican City:  The Vatican felt compelled on Tuesday to deny that Pope Francis had “abolished sin”, after a well-known Italian intellectual wrote that he had effectively done so through his words and gestures.

The singular exchange began on Sunday when Eugenio Scalfari, an atheist who writes opinion pieces for the left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper, published an article titled Francis' Revolution: He has abolished sin. Scalfari, treatise-like article said that Francis believed sin effectively no longer existed because God’s mercy and forgiveness were “eternal”. 

Vatican spokesman   Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio that “this affirmation that the Pope has abolished sin” was wrong.