Hell in Catholicism

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Hell in Catholicism is the "state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed"[1] which occurs by the refusal to repent of mortal sin before one's death, since mortal sin deprives one of sanctifying grace.[2]

Meaning of "Hell"[edit]

In Catholic theology, the term "Hell" – translated from Latin infernus, Greek ᾍδης Hades, and Hebrew שְׁאוֹל Sheol – can most broadly refer any "abode" where souls, after death, reside who "have not obtained the happiness of heaven".[3] These abodes include the following three:

  1. Hell of the Damned, also known as "Gehenna" (Hebrew: גֵּיהִנּוֹם), is Hell strictly speaking, which the Catholic Church defines as the "state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed".[4]
  2. Purgatory is where just souls are cleansed from any defilement before entering Heaven.
  3. Limbo of the Fathers, also known as "Abraham's Bosom", where just souls before Christ awaited Heaven. It is to this abode that the Catholic Church teaches Christ descended.[5]

To these three, theologians historically add a fourth as well: Limbo of the Infants, where souls who die in original sin but without any personal mortal sin reside.[6]

Church Fathers[edit]

In Catholic theology, the writings of the Church Fathers are considered to be sacred tradition.[7]

General agreement[edit]

While many Church Fathers taught that eternal hellfire awaits people who do not repent of sin,[8][better source needed] the history of Christian universalism includes prominent patristic theologians such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Gregory of Nyssa.

Individual opinions[edit]

Some of the Church Fathers listed certain people who go to hell. Ignatius of Antioch said hell awaits "corruptors of families", Clement of Rome neglecters of "his commandments", Justin Martyr "the evildoer, the avaricious, and the treacherous"; Theophilus of Antioch "the unbelievers and [...] the contemptuous and [...] those who do not submit to the truth but assent to iniquity"; Irenaeus "those who do not believe the Word of God and despise his coming"; Hippolytus "lovers of evil"; Lactantius "unrighteous"; and Cyril of Jerusalem "a sinner" who "blaspheme[s] [...] commit[s] fornication [...] [and] rob[s]".[9][better source needed]

Ecumenical councils[edit]

The Catholic Church believes an ecumenical council, along with the pope, can under certain circumstances define doctrines infallibly.[10]

Council of Trent[edit]

The Council of Trent taught that "those who commit infidelity, [...] fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, liers with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, railers, extortioners, and all others who commit deadly sins" lose sanctifying grace.[11]

Popes[edit]

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catholics owe the bishops obsequium religiosum when they speak non-infallibly.[12]

Pius X[edit]

Pope Pius X taught that the torment of the damned consists in the deprivation of the beatific vision and various punishments, which will afflict the soul before the resurrection of the dead and afflict both body and soul after it, and which will be eternal and terrible for all the damned, but different in degree or measure based on one's sins.[13]

John Paul II[edit]

Pope John Paul II taught that hell, which is spoken of symbolically in the Bible, does not just refer to a place, but principally refers to the state of "definitive self-exclusion from God", and that no one can know who is in hell except by special revelation.[14]

Benedict XVI[edit]

Pope Benedict XVI's March 25, 2007 homily on hell was interpreted by some journalists as saying that hell is a place.[15]

Catechisms[edit]

The church believes that the Roman Catechism and the Catechism of the Catholic Church authoritatively present Catholic doctrine to all Catholics.[16][17]

Catechism of the Council of Trent[edit]

According to the Roman Catechism, the damned are eternally deprived of the beatific vision. They will not receive any consolations in hell, escape from the pain of hellfire, or have any company except for the demons that tempted them.[18]

Catechism of the Catholic Church[edit]

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Jesus often warned about "Gehenna" and "the unquenchable fire." The catechism goes on to say that no one is predestined to hell, since, for damnation to be even possible, "a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end."[19] The catechism further teaches that the fall of the rebellious angels from heaven is irrevocable because they committed an unpardonable sin.[20] The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that hell came into existence at the fall of the angels.[21]

Church doctors[edit]

The Catholic Church believes that a doctor of the church is a saint who made significant contributions to theology.[22]

Thomas Aquinas[edit]

In the Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas taught that hell is reserved for the wicked and the unbaptized immediately after death, but that those who die only in original sin will not suffer in hell.[23] Aquinas also taught that, on Judgment Day, the punishment of hell will consist of fire and of "whatever is ignoble and sordid," since "all the elements conduce to the torture of the damned," who "placed their end in material things." Aquinas further taught that the worm of the damned is a guilty conscience, that the damned will suffer over the fact of having separated themselves from God, that the damned will physically weep on Judgement Day, that hell is so full of darkness that the damned can only see things which will torment them, that the "disposition of hell" is "utmost unhappiness," that the fire of hell is non-physical (before Judgment Day) and physical (at Judgment Day), that the physical fire of hell will not be made of matter, and that whether or not hell is under the earth is unknown.[24] Aquinas taught that the suffering of punishment is according to one's sins, so that some will suffer more, in deeper and darker pits of hell, than others.[25]

Private revelations[edit]

In Catholic theology, a private revelation is an optional help to live more fully by divine revelation.[26]

Our Lady of Fatima[edit]

Sister Lúcia and Francisco and Jacinta Marto claimed that Our Lady of Fatima showed them a vision of hell while declaring, "You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart."[27]

Our Lady of Kibeho[edit]

Alphonsine Mumureke claimed that Our Lady of Kibeho took her to hell, which she described as a "most fearsome hot furnace where the only light was a shade of red."[28][better source needed]

Catherine of Siena[edit]

Catherine of Siena, a doctor of the church, claimed that Jesus told her that there are four main torments of hell that the other torments of hell proceed from: the loss of the beatific vision, the worm of a guilty conscience, the vision and company of Satan, and the pain of the eternal flames. She also claimed that Jesus told her that the torments of hell are suffered according to one's sins; for example, the vision of Satan is worst for doers of worst sins.[29]

Faustina[edit]

Saint Faustina claimed to have had visited the "chasms of hell" when her guardian angel took her there, where she saw many people who disbelieved in the existence of hell.[30] Faustina also claimed to have seen Catholic nuns in hell for breaking their vows of silence,[31] as well as souls whom God had marked for great holiness.[32] She further claimed that Jesus told her that, when a sinner repents of sin, Satan flies away to the bottom of hell in fear,[33] and that, when a soul is damned, it plunges Jesus into mortal agony.[34]

John Bosco[edit]

John Bosco claimed to have dreamed about hell. He said he was walking down a broad pleasant path that was laden with various traps – traps which prayer could prevent and the sacraments could remedy – and that the path suddenly ended in a chasm of fire, where many of the boys he taught were being tormented for their sins.[35]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church 1033
  2. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church 1861
  3. ^ Catechism of the Council of Trent (PDF). Translated by McHugh, John A.; Callan, Charles J. p. 59.
  4. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019. Paragraphs 1033–1034.
  5. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed.). Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 2019. Paragraph 633.
  6. ^ Hontheim 1910.
  7. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church 77–78
  8. ^ StayCatholic: Early Church Fathers On Hell
  9. ^ StayCatholic: Early Church Fathers On Hell
  10. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church 891–892
  11. ^ Council of Trent, Session 6
  12. ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church - Christ's Faithful - Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life". www.vatican.va. Archived from the original on 2002-09-10.
  13. ^ Catechism of St. Pius X: The Twelfth Article of the Creed
  14. ^ "28 July 1999 - John Paul II". w2.vatican.va. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  15. ^ The Times, 27 March 2007, reported "Hell is a place where sinners really do burn in an everlasting fire, and not just a religious symbol designed to galvanise the faithful, the Pope has said" (The Fires of Hell Are Real and Eternal, Pope Warns). Fox News reproduced the article as published on The Times, under the heading: "Pope: Hell Is a Real Place Where Sinners Burn in Everlasting Fire" (Pope: Hell Is a Real Place Where Sinners Burn in Everlasting Fire Archived 2 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine). The Australian published Owen's article on its 28 March 2007 issue (Hell is real and eternal: Pope). The Canadian National Post of 28 March 2007, quoting The Times, reported: "Pope Benedict XVI has been reminding the faithful of some key beliefs of their faith, including the fact hell is a place where sinners burn in an everlasting fire" (Hell 'exists and is eternal, ' Pope warns Archived 11 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine). The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of 3 April 2007, again referring to The Times, reported: "Pope Benedict XVI has reinstated hell as a real place where the heat is always on." (Playing with fire)
  16. ^ Master Nazareth Catechism, Roman Catechism: Need of an Authoritative Catholic Catechism
  17. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church 11
  18. ^ Master Nazareth Catechism, Catechism of the Council of Trent: Sentence of the Wicked
  19. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church 1037
  20. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church 393
  21. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church Compendium, 74. What was the fall of the angels?
  22. ^ Rice, Fr. Larry (2015). "Doctors of the Church?" (PDF). usccb.org. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  23. ^ Summa Theologica Question 69
  24. ^ Summa Theologica Question 97
  25. ^ Summa Theologica Question 69
  26. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church 67
  27. ^ Vatican.Va: The Message of Fatima
  28. ^ Mission Magazine: Our Lady of Kibeho: A Message for the World
  29. ^ Visions of Hell: St. Catherine of Siena
  30. ^ Divine Mercy In My Soul, 741
  31. ^ Divine Mercy In My Soul, 118
  32. ^ Divine Mercy In My Soul, 1556
  33. ^ Divine Mercy In My Soul, 378
  34. ^ Divine Mercy In My Soul, 580
  35. ^ Today's Catholic World: Bosco's Dream of Hell

Sources[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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