So would it therefore be fair to say that at least some Christians believe, that if Hitler in his last moments of life was truly repentant and accepted Jesus into his heart, then he would be forgiven and go to heaven, while his six million innocent victims would not go to heaven because they were Jews?
Catholics believe that we do not know the fate of individual souls. If we were to hazzard a guess on Hitler’s place in eternity he does not have much of a chance of escaping eternal damnation, but we don’t know for sure. He was the enemy of God, the enemy of religion, the enemy of life. He targeted Jews and others for destruction.
We believe Jesus offered His life as sacrifice for all mankind. The animal sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood prefigured that of Christ the eternal high priest. He told His followers to take up our crosses and follow Him, become sacrifice. If we do not He says we are not worthy of Him, fit to be His disciples, followers.
The short version of what this means is I have to be willing to give my life for your salvation, or any of the six million Jews Hitler killed, or a person I would by nature hate, my enemy and yours.
He commands us to love our enemies.
Regarding Jews and the death of Jesus we believe He died to redeem us from sin. So it is my sins that caused His passion and death. The Jews and Roman soldiers were my agents. They acted on my behalf. I caused it, but so did you. We are in the same boat.
We believe there is a heaven, a place where joy is so great that we can not imagine it. We believe there is a hell, a place where the pain is so great we can not imagine it. Both are eternal. The prospect of hell is so horrible that we could not wish it on anyone. We beg God for mercy for all including those who hate us.
Our sins, the evil we all do can not be forgiven by God unless we forgive others.
We see the religion of the Jews as true religion, as opposed to Islam, Hinduism, etc. We believe the God of all creation revealed Himself to the Jews in a series of covenants and miracles made by God between real historical people who ALL were Jews, not only for their good, but for the eventual good of all mankind. Salvation is of the Jews. Jesus said that.
These convenants God made are expanding in scope. The first is with a man and a woman. The next is with Noah and family. The next is with Abraham and his clan. The next is with twelve tribes. The next with David and the nation of Israel. The final is with all mankind, but it all comes through the Jews and they are all connected.
The apostle Paul wrote that in the end all Israel will be saved. I don’t know what that means. What I hope it means is that every single Jew who ever lived ends up in heaven. We hope and pray for mercy for all.
Whenever we confront Infinity we encounter mystery, things that are beyond our finite minds ability to comprehend. This means we can not understand everything God does. It does not mean we can have no understanding at all. It means we can not understand everything. There are things that are beyond us. Jesus said to His apostles, “There is much I would like to tell you, but you can not bear it yet”. Our understanding has limitations.
The holocaust is a mystery. I speculate that it conformed the Jewish people to the image of Christ crucified. It made them like Him, acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. It made those who are His people by blood, participants in His redemptive work, the mystery of salvation. This is my wild speculation. I do not know this for certain. It is only findable in mystery. “In the end all Israel will be saved”.
We do believe in deathbed conversions. I know personally of some that seemed miraculous, one of a man who was an atheist all his life. Only God can judge the soul. Only God knows the secret of a soul. If you repent of your sins God can not not forgive you. He can not refuse mercy to a penitent soul. This is part of the covenant, the promise God made.
In these covenants God swears an oath in His holy name. This covenant He made to forgive us our sins is made in the blood of Christ, His self-sacrifice. There He is saying I swear in my own blood that I will not refuse you mercy if you turn from your sins. If you repent and God refuses you mercy it makes Him a liar.
This is prefigured in the sacrifice of animals established by Moses. The guilt and consequences of the sin of the Jew was transferred to the animal. The ritual sacrifice of the animal whose blood was poured out on the altar atoned for the sin of the Jew. The blood of the lamb without blemish painted on the door with the hyssop branch kept the death angel from the Jews.
At the Passover the Jews at the flesh of the sacrificed lamb. They broke bread and drank four cups of the wine of the Passover meal…
The blood of Christ our sacrifice atones for all of our sins, IF we ask for forgiveness and repent. His blood is not on the doors of our houses. It is the wine of the new and everlasting covenant and it is on our lips. It is all findable in the mystery of faith.
The Bible doesn’t belong to the Catholic Church, no matter how bad it’s members want to believe that it does.