What is the Catholic Church's position on hell?

Question

Please, if you do not know the answer, try not to post. I can't stop you from stating your opinion on religion either, and I won't try. Just please be considerate. I would just like this answer.
Thankyou.

Thanks Meg M. and Isaac!

Thanks Imacatholic! and all others who want to help!

other people, I appreciate you taking the time to post but If you don't know the answer, please don't pretend to know. Thank you!

Answer 1

No one really knows what hell is like. It has been described by people who have not been there as everything from flames to a frozen lake (Dante).

Hell is the state of complete and final self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed, reserved for those who refuse by their own free choice to believe and be converted from sin, even to the end of their lives

I like to think of it this way. The only way a person will go to hell is if they want to.

God in His (or Her) unlimited love has given us free will to choose. Our most important choice is to freely decide to accept or reject God's constant offer of spending eternity with Him in heaven. God will respect the choice to reject Him.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

I have not obvious the film but however i can, we nonetheless consider in Hell however we don't emphasis on it like a few Christians do and we aren't within the addiction of telling individuals they're going to Hell both. We additionally consider Catholics and Non Catholics move to heaven. I are not able to remark at the Vatican pupil you talk of for the reason that i've no longer obvious this, if he did state this and he's a Vatican pupil he's unsuitable. As I mentioned above regardless that we don't awareness on hell, we awareness on God and the message of Jesus. We also are no longer within the addiction in telling individuals they're going to hell, I have obvious the trailer and it appears 'INTERESTING' however I can see it specializes in the negatives of faith and ideals as I am certain you good recognize, and Editing is a nice TOOL. I will watch it regardless that quickly I have an open brain!.

Answer 3

In a Catholic dictionary next to the word hell you will find the meaning- Gehenna. The name derived from a burning garbage dump near Jerusalem (the valley of Hinnom). The popular belief is to assume that Catholics believe in hell as a place of eternal punishment, but that is old school. The top Catholic scholars refer to the hell spoken about in the bible as imagery, not all Catholics study the bible intensley so asking them you will get more personal opinion rather than specific church teaching which will only be found in the vatican two documents

Edit: The answer above me speaks of a catechism, make sure you read an up to date version if you look it up

Answer 4

Funny you should ask that. Pope Benedict actually rvised the Jesuit "nice version" of Hell being an absence of God back to a place of eternal pain and suffering in March 2007.

See:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03262007/news/worldnews/pope_proclaims_hell_exists_and_is_eternal_worldnews_.htm

March 26, 2007 -- ROME - Hell is a place where sinners burn in an eternal fire, and not just a religious symbol designed to galvanise the faithful, the Pope has said.

God's mercy and love are great, but those who reject him should know that hell "exists and is eternal, even if nobody talks about it much any more," Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed during a weekend visit to a Rome parish.

So I would be extremely suspicious of Catholic apologists, pr agents and spin doctors who even refuse to quote the current Pope accurately.

Answer 5

Hell is a place it is not a state of mind. It is real and defined in the Sacred Scripture.

People who died in the state of mortal sin are punished to go to hell. It is a place of torment because the soul would not be able to see God.

If a person goes to hell, there is no more salvation meaning the soul is damned through eternity until the 2nd coming of Christ.

Answer 6

I was born and raised a Catholic till I was 24.. I don't claim to be one any more...I know they believe in a hell and purgatory....They even adopted Dante's slogan above the gates of hell which says"Abandon all hope ye who enter here...I think I'm supposed to go to hell for leaving the church....Catholics will tell you your gonna go to hell if you do this or that...But then when you do it there is always a way out....Confession , a few hail Marys and an our father and your good to go until you do if again.......If I ever go back to church I hope the priest in the confessional has at least 6 hours to listen to my confession.....I've been bad.....in a good way though...

Answer 7

The word from which we get "Hell" is Hades in Greek and Sheol in Hebrew. It's the place where all dead people went before the cross because until the Lord's blood was shed no one could get into Heaven. Many Christians confuse this place with the place of eternal torment to which unbelievers will be sent.



In Matt 12:40 Jesus talked about spending 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the Earth. This is where we get the idea of its location. Since the cross, no believer has gone there, but upon death goes directly to heaven. And the unbelievers in hell will be brought back to life for their judgment at the end of the Millennium. At that time they'll be sent to their final destiny and the place in the heart of the Earth will cease to exist. The place of eternal judgment is called the Lake of Fire in some places and the Outer Darkness in others


The Bible mentions Hell as a place: The fiery lake of burning sulfur, the lake of fire, the pit, gloomy dungeons...

"The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur" (Rev.19:20)

"And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever... Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death" (Rev.20:10, 14).

"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death." (Rev.21:8)

"For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment" (2Pet.2:4).

Where is Hell Located?:



Some think Hell is everywhere, that the damned are at liberty to roam about in the entire universe, but that they carry their punishment with them... most theologians believe the damned be limited in their movements and confined to a definite place.

The Bible seems to indicate that hell is within the earth, for it describes Hell as an abyss to which the wicked descend. We even read of the earth opening and of the wicked sinking down into Hell (Rev.20:3, 17:8, 9:1, Ro.10:7, Ps.69:15, Num.16:31-34, Is.5:14, Ez.16:20).

This may be a metaphor to illustrate the state of separation from God: Although God is omnipresent, He is said to dwell in heaven, because the light and grandeur of the stars and the firmament are the brightest manifestations of His infinite splendor. But the damned are utterly estranged from God; hence their abode is said to be as remote as possible from his dwelling, far from heaven above and its light, and consequently

Answer 8

Here is the section on Hell in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p123a12.htm#IV

Answer 9

Depends on what you mean. They believe in baptism by water to be saved. Forgiveness of sins comes through confessing to your priest. Suicide sends you to hell. However Catholics believe in a place called purgatory. They believe people on earth can pray people who have already died into heaven.

I was raised Catholic. When I searched scripture myself I found a lot of the Catholic traditions are just that.. . not always biblical. And what is so called biblical they have misunderstood or taken out of context. Which isn't to say they are not Christian. They very much are & we will all be wrong on some things. God in His mercy is very patient with us.

Answer 10

Hell is the eternal abode of those who die having rejected God and His saving grace. The Catholic Church does NOT teach that non-Catholics are destined for hell.