Julian does imply the mistake of universal salvation, not merely hope, as do Balthasar and Barron oftentimes.
Pax Christi
That is simply not true, for declaring universal salvation implies a certitude, and a careful reading of Julian herself shows that she does not hold any such belief. Here from chapter 32 of her Revelations, she struggles to reconcile what the Church teaches about hell - which she believes - with what she has been told concerning the āGreat Deedā that will make all things well:
"At this insight I marveled greatly, and looked at our Faith, marveling thus: our Faith is based in Godās word, and it is part of our Faith that we believe that Godās word shall be preserved in all things, and one point of our Faith is that many creatures shall be damned (as were the angels who fell out of heaven because of pride - who are now demons), and many on earth who die outside of the Faith of Holy Church (that is to say, those who are heathen men and also men who have received Christianity but live unchristian lives and so die without love) all these shall be damned to hell without end, as Holy Church teaches me to believe.
Given all this, it seemed to me that it was impossible that all manner of thing would be well as our Lord showed at this time; and in regard to this, I had no other answer in any showing of our Lord God except this:
'What is impossible for thee is not impossible for me. I shall preserve my word in all things, and I shall make everything well.ā
Thus I was taught by the grace of God that I should steadfastly keep myself in the Faith as I had interpreted it before, and also that I should firmly believe that everything shall be well as our Lord showed at the same time; because this Great Deed that our Lord shall do, in which deed he shall preserve His word in everything and He shall make well all that is not well. But what the deed shall be, and how it shall be done, there is no creature beneath Christ that either knows it or shall know it until it is done."
Do you see a clear confirmation of universal salvation in her words? I donāt. Do you think Joseph Ratzinger could have overlooked such a glaring error which you accuse her of, when he glowingly recommended her? I donātā¦ not from Pope Benedict, who is so very meticulous in his writings and observations.
I leave you with some thoughts from the Cistercian scholar William Menninger, whose ideas may or may not hold water with you, but I like his notion that what we have here is a paradox:
"God has known this deed, whatever it is, from the beginning. From all eternity, God had intended to make all things well. There may even be an allusion here to chapter 1 of Genesis where God saw that all He made was good. Julian then considers one article of faith that, like all articles of faith, is based on Godās word, namely, that hell is real. There are condemned souls as well as condemned angels in hell. This is the clear teaching of the Holy Church. How then, is it possible for all things to be well? As our Lord emphasizes, so Julian insists that she is called to maintain firmly what the Church teaches and also to believe as the Lord has told her, that all things will be well. She accepts the contradiction by simply stating that, for the Lord, nothing is impossible. Systematic logic is not where Julian is at this moment! It is a moment of faith: the substance of things that appear not.
Once again Julian states, at the end of the chapter, her certain belief that what the Church teaches is true and what God says is the same truth - even though, for us, this is impossible to reconcileā¦ Julian avoids saying that hell will be eliminated because that seems contrary to Church teaching. She is saying that the existence of hell prevents all manner of things from being well. Her conclusion? Be at peace, have faith in God, and you will see for yourself."
And when it comes to the **hope *
that all will be saved, I will stick with the ideas of von Balthasar, who was held in such esteem by both Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and also Bishop-elect Barron. You are free, of course to disagree. Iām curious though, how can you love all as our Lord commanded: our neighbors, our enemies, everyone, and not at least hope *that all will be saved?
