The People in Hell

Dear Catholic Exchange:

Anonymous

Dear Friend,

Peace in Christ!

The fact that God is love does not have an effect on the Church’s teaching on hell.

First, there are several passages in Scripture that indicate there will indeed be people in hell, including:

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are there who enter by it. How narrow the gate and close the way that leads to life. And few there are who find it…. Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers” (Mt 7:13-14, 21-23).

Culminating the Last Judgment scene recorded in Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus says, referring to Himself, “Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’…. And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt 25:41, 46).

Regarding the passage from Matthew 7, some may argue that Jesus is talking about a temporal, earthly destruction that would not preclude a reconciliation and ultimate salvation of those who enter the “wide gate.” But, given the context of the whole passage, particularly Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus is clearly addressing the reality that humans can go to hell. In the Catechism, no. 1036 also cites Matthew 7:13-14 and makes reference in a footnote to Matthew 25:31-46. The Catechism also refers to Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium, no. 48 §3, which cites the various passages noted in Catechism, no. 1036, plus additional passages.

In addition, in Matthew 25, Jesus uses the word “will” regarding the damned, as in “will go away into eternal punishment” (emphasis added); the indication is that at least some human persons will go to hell. Vatican II and other Church pronouncements do nothing to soften Christ’s words. They do not make disclaimers that Jesus is only speaking hypothetically, and that if there are any unrepentant sinners at the Last Judgment (cf. Catechism, no. 1038), then they will go into eternal punishment; but if there are not any unrepentant sinners, then none will go into hell. While some Scripture scholars may argue for a hypothetical interpretation of Matthew 25:31-46 and similar passages, the Church takes Christ’s words regarding the prospective unsaved matter-of-factly, i.e., without diminishing the force of His words.

Further, while the Church has a process for pronouncing on those who are definitely in heaven, it has no such similar process for pronouncing on those who are definitely in hell. So, again, a Catholic should not attempt to pronounce on the eternal damnation of specific people when the Church has not.

The Church has also condemned the error of apocatastasis or universalism, which teaches that all people will inevitably be saved. In his November 1459 letter Cum Sicut, Pope Pius II even condemned the more limited proposition that all Christians will inevitably be saved.

Thus, a Catholic is certainly free to believe that there are people in hell and that others living may go to hell, although he should not become preoccupied with attempting to determine who or how many will not be saved. In addition, a Catholic in charity should pray that all those living now and who will be born will be saved through their free-will cooperation with God’s grace. Indeed, from the Second Council of Orange and the Council of Trent, we know that

God predestines no one to go to hell; 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” (2 Pt 3:9) (Catechism, no. 1037; cf. no. 1864).

In summary, while the Church has not pronounced that there are or will be specific persons in hell, and even though she has not specifically stated that there unquestionably are now or will be human persons in hell, the Church’s pronouncements do indicate, in light of and consistent with the scriptural data, that some unnamed number of human persons will sadly choose eternal hell instead of eternal life in heaven with God. We can thus conclude that:

1. It is a dogma of faith that hell is a state for the unrepentant after they die.

2. It is a dogma of faith that its punishments are indeed eternal.

3. It is our Lord’s teaching that hell is a real possibility for all people living on earth.

The Church has no pronouncement on exactly who is in hell (besides Satan and his demons), or on how many human beings are in hell, or on how many will be in hell.

For further information, please see our FAITH FACT “Hell, the Self-Exclusion from God.”

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United in the Faith,

Amy Barragree

Information Specialist

Catholics United for the Faith

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