Dear Catholic Exchange:
Does the Catholic Church teach that ALL people are saved? I'm in RCIA, and the teacher insists that all people are saved.
Also, this teacher insists that all of God's creation is “good,” that there is no such thing as Original Sin. That there is no hell, no devil, no demons.
What does the Catholic Church say about these things?
I had understood that the death of Jesus paid the full price for sin, that all people were forgiven. I thought that salvation was the result of Jesus's resurrection, and required something from us to accept the gift of salvation. That is, we accept salvation with a contrite heart by repenting of our sin, and turning away from it.
Thank you.
Scott
Dear Scott:
Oh dear.
No. The Catholic Church does not teach that all people are saved. Salvation is a cooperative process. People have to choose salvation. If they refuse the life of God, they shall have what they choose. Here, in full, is the Church's actual teaching on hell from The Catechism of the Catholic Church:
IV. HELL
1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love Him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against Him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: “He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”[610] Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from Him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are His brethren.[611]To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from Him forever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called “hell.”
1034 Jesus often speaks of “Gehenna” of “the unquenchable fire” reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.[612] Jesus solemnly proclaims that He “will send his angels, and they will gather…all evil-doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,”[613] and that He will pronounce the condemnation: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!”[614]
1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, “eternal fire.” [615] The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.
1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”[616] Since we know neither the day nor the hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that, when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter with Him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not, like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal fire, into the outer darkness where “men will weep and gnash their teeth.”[617]
1037 God predestines no one to go to hell;[618] for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want “any to perish, but all to come to repentance”[619]: Father, accept this offering from your whole family. Grant us your peace in this life, save us from final damnation, and count us among those you have chosen.[620]
Your teacher, if you are understanding him correctly, is espousing a doctrine called “universalism” which the Church condemns as not only false, but frankly, rather silly. After all, to “know” that “everybody is saved” requires knowing the inmost thoughts and choices of everybody who ever lived and know with absolute certainty that they chose union with God. We know no such thing, just as we do not know whether anybody has ever refused union with God. We know, in a few very clear cases, when people have chosen union with God and we canonize such people as saints, based on the huge body of evidence of their sanctity they leave behind. But to claim we know such things about everybody is ridiculous.
Now (since I do not know your teacher) it could be that you are misunderstanding him. Perhaps he is saying that Jesus died for every single human being without any exception whatsoever. If so, this is true. Jesus died for Hitler and Stalin. The offer of salvation was extended to them as to everybody else. But it does not follow that they took it. As Catholics called to love our enemies, we hope and pray that somehow, at the end, even they opened their souls to His mercy and were not eternally lost. But to say that we know for certain that they aren't is absurd. We know no such thing.
With regards to the other part of your question, the Catholic Church teaches that original sin, hell, the devil and demons are all real. Here again is the Catechism:
III. ORIGINAL SIN
Freedom put to the test
396 God created man in His image and established him in His friendship. A spiritual creature, man can live this friendship only in free submission to God. The prohibition against eating “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” spells this out: “for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die.” [276] The “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” [277] symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man, being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is dependent on his Creator, and subject to the laws of creation and to the moral norms that govern the use of freedom.
Man's first sin
397 Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of. [278] All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in His goodness.
398 In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned Him. He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status and therefore against his own good. Created in a state of holiness, man was destined to be fully “divinized” by God in glory. Seduced by the devil, he wanted to “be like God,” but “without God, before God, and not in accordance with God.” [279]
399 Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness.[280] They become afraid of the God of whom they have conceived a distorted image — that of a God jealous of His prerogatives.[281]
400 The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination.[282] Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man.[283] Because of man, creation is now subject “to its bondage to decay.” [284] Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will “return to the ground,” [285] for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history.[286]
Read more about Original Sin in the Catechism in paragraphs 401-409.
And for the full teaching of the Church on the devil, read paragraphs 391-395.
Your teacher appears to be, like most people who teach falsehood, partly right. Creation is good. Nothing that God created is bad. But evil is always a perversion of the good. To construe, “Nothing God creates is evil” as meaning “therefore evil is impossible” has a very immediate consequence: it means that Hitler, Auschwitz, Mao, Pol Pot and Stalin were all “good” since evil is (according to your teacher) impossible. This is absurd. But if it is possible for man to abuse his free will so badly, how much more can an angel abuse its free will? That, in sum, is what Satan has done.
And, of course, you are right: if there is no such thing as evil and sin, then what was all that fuss that Jesus went through on the cross all about?
If you are getting catechesis this wretched, I would strongly suggest you find a different RCIA, as well as informing the pastor of your parish that your teacher is teaching things directly contrary to the teachings of the Church. I would also inform your fellow RCIA members. Do not feel like you have to sit there and put up with this. The Church says you have a right to the truth.
One last thing: you've done the right thing in trying to be pro-active about educating yourself. If you don't have a copy of the Catechism, get one. It will not answer every question, nor is it intended to micromanage your thoughts about issues on which there is legitimate diversity (and there is plenty of legitimate diversity in the Catholic Church). But it will help you sort wheat from chaff when you are confronted with flat denials of obvious Church teaching.
Please write again if you need further help.
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
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