This is nothing new. The Catholic Church has held this position for quite a while. This is what I believe as a Catholic. Hell is real, but it's not a physical place. The "hell fires" of Gehenna were real, and used as a metaphor for what it's like to live in eternity absent the love of God.

Religion is the "cheat sheet" to life. How do you teach religion to children or people who lack intelligence? Do you teach them deep theology or give them stories to convey the message? You do the latter. That's the Bible. The message is true, but the stories are not. Adam and Eve were not real, but the story of Creation explains to us that God is the source of all things and all life, etc. Wake up, morans!