Three questions on Hell and Purgatory

[fish90]

1.) What kind of pain does Hell involve? Is it physical or emotional/mental? Did not Pope John Paul II describe it as being completely and eternally separated from God?

2.) Can you go to Hell without forgiven mortal sin from the Church?

3.) If Purgatory does not exist in time, then why has the Church issued partial indulgences with periods of time?

Thanks,
fish90

 

[Prophesy]

1.) What kind of pain does Hell involve? Is it physical or emotional/mental? Did not Pope John Paul II describe it as being completely and eternally separated from God?

2.) Can you go to Hell without forgiven mortal sin from the Church?

3.) If Purgatory does not exist in time, then why has the Church issued partial indulgences with periods of time?

Thanks,
fish90

1. I don’t think the Church has pronounced the pain in Hell, from what I can imagine it’d be the full on realization of the emptiness that results without God. And emptiness can be painful, if you’ve ever lost a loved one or had a nasty break-up it could be seen as the a lesser pain than that experienced in Hell, which would be complete emptiness.
2. This question needs a bit more elaboration as to the exact question you’re asking.
3. The periods of time do not refer to time in Purgatory, but the amount of penance completed within the indulgence.

-Prophecy

 

[JRKH]

1.) What kind of pain does Hell involve? Is it physical or emotional/mental? Did not Pope John Paul II describe it as being completely and eternally separated from God?

Short answer - Yes The Pain would be total and thus include whatever faculties would be availbable to the damned soul.

2.) Can you go to Hell without forgiven mortal sin from the Church?

Please Clarify - this statement does not make sense to me.

3.) If Purgatory does not exist in time, then why has the Church issued partial indulgences with periods of time?

Frankly because “time” is how wemeasure things on this side of the veil. indulgences are given in units that we as “timeline” creatures can understand.

Thanks,
fish90

No Problem - Hope these help some.

Peace
James

 

[DavidFilmer]

1.) What kind of pain does Hell involve? Is it physical or emotional/mental? Did not Pope John Paul II describe it as being completely and eternally separated from God?

Yes, this is the teaching of the Church:

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. (CCC 1035)

We do not know exactly what form this suffering takes. It is unlikely that it is the same as the idea of “pain” that we have on earth. I personally prefer the term “torment” instead of “pain.”

2.) Can you go to Hell without forgiven mortal sin from the Church?

If you die in a state of mortal sin, you go to hell. If you obtain forgiveness of mortal sin while still alive, and then die, then you do not go to hell. It’s that simple.

3.) If Purgatory does not exist in time, then why has the Church issued partial indulgences with periods of time?

The Church no longer makes this type of distinction - a partial indulgence is simply “partial” without any way to compare them. The old system was designed only to facilitate comparison by expressing units of measure that people can easily understand, but it proved to be confusing in intent (as evidenced by your question here).

 

[LilyM]

1.) What kind of pain does Hell involve? Is it physical or emotional/mental? Did not Pope John Paul II describe it as being completely and eternally separated from God?

Yes, and that complete and eternal separation from God causes pain in every fibre of our being - mental, emotional and physical - since it is separation from the source of physical as well as mental/emotional life and wellbeing.

2.) Can you go to Hell without forgiven mortal sin from the Church?

The question is confusing. If you’re Catholic and in a state of mortal sin, then you must, presuming you are able, go to confession and have those mortal sins forgiven. That is the ordinary way they are absolved.

There is such a thing as Perfect Contrition, whereby one who is genuinely sorry for their sins out of love of God rather than mere fear of hell or any other motive, AND who resolve to confess their sins when they are able to do so, will be forgiven and saved even if they are unable to get to confession prior to death.

Note that perfect contrition on its own does NOT mean one can receive the Eucharist or other sacraments without prior confession - apart from a few very exceptional circumstances. And note that one is at all times obliged afterwards to confess as soon as one is able. Note too that the requirement to sacramentally confess applies only to Catholics - of course, since sacramental confession is available only to them

3.) If Purgatory does not exist in time, then why has the Church issued partial indulgences with periods of time?

Thanks,
fish90

To understand this, you need to understand that centuries ago the Church handed out what were called ‘canonical penances’. In other words for your sins you’d probably be required to spend a certain number of days, months or years doing a set of standard penitential activities, such as fasting.

The ‘300 days/500 days/7 years’ indulgence simply means that saying that particular indulgenced prayer, or doing that particular indulgenced action, would have the same benefit as spending 300 days/500 days/7 years doing ‘canonical penance’. The amount of purgatory that would be ‘worked off’, if you will, would be the same amount as that ‘worked off’ by the period of penance.

Needless to say, being that ‘canonical penances’ are largely a thing of the past, the whole concept of a time period attached to indulgences became hugely misunderstood and people literally thought so many days would come off one’s ‘time served’ in purgatory as if it were a jail sentence.

Hence in modern times indulgences are simply either ‘partial’ or ‘plenary’, with no particular number of days/years attached. Avoids the confusion.

 

[RosaryFan]

1.) What kind of pain does Hell involve? Is it physical or emotional/mental? Did not Pope John Paul II describe it as being completely and eternally separated from God?

2.) Can you go to Hell without forgiven mortal sin from the Church?

3.) If Purgatory does not exist in time, then why has the Church issued partial indulgences with periods of time?

Thanks,
fish90

1. We always learned in school that it is eternal separation from God, and would be like a feeling of deep regret for our sins. I can only imagine that these feelings would be physical as well as emotional once our bodies and souls are reunited at the end.
2. Hell is specifically for those who have died in mortal sin. If you have died without mortal sin (i.e. your sins have been forgiven), then you are saved from hell. [Sorry, I didn’t quite understand your question here]
3. I believe partial indulgences no longer carry specific periods of time. Now, indulgences are either specified as “partial” or “plenary”.

 

[fish90]

Thanks for all your responses.

With regard to my second question, I wish to highlight the extraordinary means of salvation. If my memory serves me correctly, is not there a private revelation that says that Jesus asks for forgiveness one last time before your judgment? Can a Catholic validly trust in extraordinary means of forgiving (absolving) mortal sin or should (s)he only consider confession as a means of having mortal sin absolved?

Thanks,
fish90

 

[RosaryFan]

Thanks for all your responses.

With regard to my second question, I wish to highlight the extraordinary means of salvation. If my memory serves me correctly, is not there a private revelation that says that Jesus asks for forgiveness one last time before your judgment? Can a Catholic validly trust in extraordinary means of forgiving (absolving) mortal sin or should (s)he only consider confession as a means of having mortal sin absolved?

Thanks,
fish90

What private revalation is that? I would make sure I get to confession immediately if I have a mortal sin on my soul. Why chance it?

 

[fish90]

Maybe I’m wrong then.

 

[LilyM]

Maybe I’m wrong then.

I believe there is something in St Faustina’s writings to that effect - however, that is not the official teaching of the Church or anything like it. Private revelation of this kind isn’t, and cannot be, official teaching.

If you were set on getting, say, plane tickets to a destination you absolutely had to get to, or concert tickets for some musician you absolutely felt you had to see perform - you would be foolish indeed not to purchase your tickets as early as you could, and through the ordinary sources.

And you would be worse than foolish to rely on the fact that someone (someone who isn’t connected in any official capacity with the ticketsellers) told you that you might be able to turn up at the last minute and find seats still available.

Besides which - the best indicator of your attitude to God after death will be your attitude to Him during your life. If you have all the ordinary means of grace, forgiveness and salvation so readily available to you NOW, and yet still choose wilfully not to avail yourself of them, why would you be disposed to use means that God may offer after death? You’re not one iota more likely.

And lest you say ‘but it would be different after death, because we would see and know God face-to-face’, remember the devil and his fallen angels saw and knew God face-to-face - in fact lived in His presence and nowhere else - and still rejected Him and were damned.

 

[choy]

1.) What kind of pain does Hell involve? Is it physical or emotional/mental? Did not Pope John Paul II describe it as being completely and eternally separated from God?

no one knows the pain. but because Hell has always been associated with fire, i guess if you were to be burned alive would be a good starting point of understanding the kind of pain that exists in Hell.

yes, Hell is complete separation from God. and this is the source of the pain.

2.) Can you go to Hell without forgiven mortal sin from the Church?

from the understanding of what mortal sin is, then no. because to commit mortal sin is when you commit a grave act with full knowledge of the act. sometimes the act may be trivial, but if there is a deliberate intention to offend God, then it makes the act grave. so when you deliberately separate yourself from God by wilfully commiting an act that you know would offend Him, then you will go to Hell.

3.) If Purgatory does not exist in time, then why has the Church issued partial indulgences with periods of time?

Thanks,
fish90

because the indulgences come from this world, which is bound in time