Why does the Catholic Church send people to hell?
Jerry was excited about the Catholic
faith to which he was baptized as an adult
during the Easter vigil. He was anxious to talk
about his new found faith to anyone willing to
listen. One day he was confronted by John who
was full of questions about the Catholic
Church. “Why does the Catholic Church send
people to hell?” That was his major question.
He explained that he was Catholic at one time
and when he heard a sermon on hell decided to
leave. Now, he goes to a non-denominational
church where people believe “heavenly bliss
for everyone.” Jerry wondered about that idea.
That event forced Jerry to explore more and
revisit some of the material he had learned in
the RCIA classes.
Some people in the modern world
believe that hell is a myth linked with a cruel
and vengeful God. Since God is love, according
to them, there is no punishment or hell. This is
rather strange logic. To deny the possibility of
punishment and hell is to deny the reality of
human free will. God has created us as persons
with the ability to choose. Man has the freedom
to return God’s love or not. Otherwise he will
be like a programmed robot. Human beings can
choose to deny God. By rejecting him we
choose hell, a state of eternal separation from
God (2Thes 1:8-9). That is why we hear in the
scriptures, “I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and curse. Choose life, then, that
you and your descendents may live” (Dt
30:19). God respects the free will he has given
us. “We cannot be united with God unless we
freely choose to love him” (Catechism of the
Catholic Church # 1033)
There are others for whom the
punishment of hell is incompatible with the
merciful God of the Bible. This argumentation
was foreign to the early Christians. It is true
that Bible presents a God of love and mercy.
But in the New Testament hell is mentioned as
many as thirty times. Jesus did speak about
those who are damned to go to “the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mk
9:43). Though he insisted that God loves the
world and desires that no one perish eternally,
he also maintained that we stand in danger of
damnation if we reject God’s offer or
reconciliation (Jn 3:16-18).
Most Christians understand hell as
eternal punishment, a damnation that is final
and irreversible. Various interpretations of the
nature of this torment exist. Dante’s ‘Divine
Comedy’ is a classic inspiration for most of the
modern images of hell. Often hell is
characterized as a place or a state of suffering.
Modern understandings, however, often depict
it more abstractly. The Bible describes hell
variously. Jesus spoke of “Gehenna” of the
“unquenchable fire.” Other terms like Hades,
lower hell (Tartarus), abyss, place of torments,
pool of fire, furnace of fire, everlasting fire,
perdition, eternal destruction etc. are found in
the scriptures. The teaching of Jesus about hell
is centered on the concept of a state of eternal
separation from God. The nature of that
separation and the consequent sufferings are in
various images, e.g. “Their worm shall not die,
nor their fire be extinguished;” (Is 66:24).
The Church has upheld this faith
throughout the centuries. “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.’ 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.”
(Catechism #1035).
At his next meeting with John, Jerry
endeavored to impress upon him that it was not
the condemnation of the Church, rather one’s
own choice that landed a person in the state of
the torment of hell. The Scripture and the
Church teachings only point to the
responsibility of human beings to use their
freedom wisely, in view of their eternity. God
predestines no one to hell, but a willful turning
away from Him could reach one there.
Therefore, in the Eucharistic liturgy we pray
“Grant us your peace in this life, save us from
final damnation.”
Fr. Xavier Thelakkatt