Can a priest lead someone to hell?

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Alexgrace927

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If a priest for example, gives bad advice or tells someone that it is okay to do something which is actually sinful, but that person isn’t aware it is sinful is that person culpable for the sin they have committed?
 
I would say no. If the person honestly believes what they are doing is right then no, they can’t be lead to hell. The priest on the other hand…

If someone becomes aware of a conflict between Church dogma and the views of a priest, I suggest looking for another priest.
 
No! If they have good intent and are listening to the advice of a priest, they won’t be led to hell.
 
I think it’s possible a priest could assist someone into hell. So, yeah, a really bad priest could “lead” someone to hell. For instance if a priest insisted something was not a sin that was and counseled someone to sin and that person then stopped seeking the truth or justified the sin because of the priest and being misled then it isn’t that the priest sends them to hell but he may indeed play a part in it. Adam and Eve were held accountable for the original sin and they and the serpent were punished.
 
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Alexgrace927 said:
If a priest for example, gives bad advice or tells someone that it is okay to do something which is actually sinful, but that person isn’t aware it is sinful is that person culpable for the sin they have committed?
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Good question.

What did Jesus say about leading children astray?

I believe that a priest can lead someone to hell. Priests are representatives in the person of Christ and have great influence. They are ambassadors of the truth.

My family suffered some serious encounters with diocesan priests. In one particular situation, these bad encounters later caused me and my teen/ late adolescent kids to question whether a pamphlet about confession mailed to parishioners by the diocese was actually from our diocese or from an off-shoot catholic group.

I literally called my diocese to make sure the pamphlet was authentically sent from the RC diocese because the priests we had before beat us down about frequently utilizing the sacrament of confession. These kinds of priest issues compounded with a parent who beat the family down with religiosity while using god to justify his own immoral ways, left only 1 out of 8 of my kids as christians, much less practicing catholics. And that 1 is still in elementary school, who knows what that ultimate outcome will be.

so, if someone drives children away from Christ, are they sending those kids to hell?
and, it wasn’t just my kids… I dunno, but it doesn’t look good

most of the children from those parishes we attended ended up atheist, agnostic, other religions including eastern religions or non-denoms. A small number stayed catholic, with even fewer actively practicing the faith. A very small number went on to become satanists or pagans.
 
Yes, a priest can be a bad shepherd and lead someone into sin.

We have to be careful though, because many will claim a priest is leading people into sin when it’s just a matter of the priest having a different style of preaching/ teaching that someone doesn’t agree with. Or try to blame the priests for people drifting away from the Church for all kinds of other reasons.
 
The only person that can send you to hell is you. THAT said, if a priest gave someone bad advice, the priest is the one culpable.
 
It depends on how complex the issue is in relation to the one inquiring and to the one giving the advice.
 
There are priests that encourage sin. One is child molester Fr. Maurice McNeely, who wrote a book about how you should just follow your conscience. Look where that led him, and must lead others.

Sorry if that’s not a direct answer. I’ve been wanting to vent about that guy, haha.
 
Because priests are formed through years of seminary, them leading other people to sin would probably be a very severe sin for them because they have very high culpability, or at least they ought to unless they were also misled but in theory that shouldn’t happen in seminary.

If a person is misled by somebody who was supposed to be their mentor, then their culpability is reduced or removed. Children are more vulnerable than adults. Adults can also be misled but then they may know enough to know that something isn’t right and they can still be culpable for sin.

I’m sorry if that is wordy but it just all depends on the situation of the individual.
 
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