Re: Excellent quote skills.
Well, this happened during Inferno. Which was well before his sister died and his defection to Mags. It predates his mental issues as well. As for his issues with Kitty, he was a kid and he always kept her at arms-length. I'm not 100% but I think his tryst with Nereel pre-dated their quasi-relationship. And when he fell for that woman from Beyonder's battleworld, he owned up to Kitty when he got back and broke up with her.
I doubt his soul-status would be the same today. Or any heroes. The only "pure-of-heart" heroes I can think of off the top of my head would be Molly Hayes and Steve Rogers. Molly because she's a kid and Steve because he's Steve!
You're right about the magic though. It's one of those things that the MU really swings back and forth on.