Why don't priests preach about Hell these days?

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“fire and brimstone”

Words like this are very hurtful and triggering. Imagine how discouraging they could be to an arsonist, or to sulfur miners.

Not to mention using the word, “foreign.” Hoo boy, here come the flags!
 
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He comes like a theif in the night …
I think that’s a scripture -
But let’s face it 70% of people die -
Without expecting it - like a theif in the night ! The body is found lifeless.

Dogma of Hell - is a great book.
 
Ukay said:
Why don’t we hear about Hell these days? If ever there was a time when it was needed, it’s now
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Ours does and he also makes a point of saying that he notices Confession lines are small while Communion lines are long!
 
Why don’t priests preach about Hell these days? I can’t answer that. But they sure used to. Consider the list below, and what they had in common. Namely, that all of these Saints believed and spoke about the fewness of the saved. And just look at those names. All of them Doctors of the Church, roughly one-third of all of the Doctors of the Church. Some of the finest Catholic philosophers and theologians in the history of the Catholic Church. It’s mighty hard to just simply dismiss them as “just other Catholics with their own opinions.”

St. John of the Cross, Doctor of the Church
Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor and Father of the Church
St. Anselm, Doctor of the Church
St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor of the Church
St. Augustine, Doctor and Father of the Church
St. Basil the Great, Doctor and Father of the Church
St. Bede the Venerable, Doctor and Father of the Church
St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church
St. Isidore of Seville, Doctor and Father of the Church
St. Hilary of Poitiers, Doctor and Father of the Church
St. Jerome, Doctor and Father of the Church
Luke 13 23-28
> 23 And a certain man said to him: Lord, are they few that are saved? But he said to them:
> 24 Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter, and shall not be able.
> 25 But when the master of the house shall be gone in, and shall shut the door, you shall begin to stand without, and knock at the door, saying: Lord, open to us. And he answering, shall say to you: I know you not, whence you are.
> 26 Then you shall begin to say: We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
> 27 And he shall say to you: I know you not, whence you are: depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
> 28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
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Well, all I can say is God bless Sensum Fidelium. The truth is often brutal but infinitely better than a comforting lie. If there really is a lion hiding in the children’s bedroom keeping a cheery light on won’t make it go away.
 
There is a relevant time and place for everything. The Church, along with private revelations in the last 100 years (Fatima, Divine Mercy), has publicly proclaimed that we are in the ‘End Times’. With that, there is an urgent call for Divine Mercy, especially for great sinners within and outside of the Church. Mercy will and should always precede justice. This doesn’t mean that sin, justice, and hell should be swept under the rug and forgotten about. It means that we should focus first on Divine Mercy and then exhort with ‘go and sin no more’.

If priests and missionaries were to preach ‘fire and brimstone’ first, preceding mercy, many would leave the Church and more would stay outside of Her.

“For the judgment is merciless to one who has not shown mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:13
 
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Ukay said:
Why don’t we hear about Hell these days? If ever there was a time when it was needed, it’s now.
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It’s been said post Vat II, we don’t hear about hell. In my case I can validate that view, because Pre Vat II, we heard about hell all the time however, Vat II ended in 1965. That’s 53 years ago. I can honestly say I’ve not heard in my parish, any homily on hell, and I don’t miss mass on Sunday.

That said,

This was a homily at an EWTN mass that caught my attention. Fr Joseph Mary Wolf retells a near death experience from an Indian priest from Kerala India that happened to Fr Jose in 1985 (20 years AFTER Vat II.) . What caught my attention is that Fr Jose’s guardian angel, said Jesus wanted to see Fr Jose but first he wanted Fr Jose to see hell and purgatory before heaven. In hell, Fr Jose saw priests and bishops there that he knew and didn’t expect to see there, but they were there because of bad example and bad teaching.

here is the story

Fr Jose Maniyangat, near death experience 1985

Thinking outloud, 🤔 ignoring hell from the teaching? Not good!
 
Given that there are exceptions to this, on average, you’re right – it’s not as common.

My answer isn’t solid, so take it with a grain of salt, but the subject of Hell is a tough one, even for practicing Catholics.

With the New Evangelism being misunderstood and clerics talking about going out to the Highways and Biways to evangelize, they tend to overlook the ones who need evangelizing too, and they are already sitting their in the pews.

It seems to be 1) for the sake of trying to attract outsiders, and 2) to avoid scaring off their own parishioners. There is a quota to be met for many parishes, and if people leave, they might not meet that quota.

This is also why contraception is rarely talked about.
 
gcshapero said:
Given that there are exceptions to this, on average, you’re right – it’s not as common.

My answer isn’t solid, so take it with a grain of salt, but the subject of Hell is a tough one, even for practicing Catholics.
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It shouldn’t be. Jesus talked about it more than any other in the NT.
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gcshapero:
With the New Evangelism being misunderstood and clerics talking about going out to the Highways and Biways to evangelize, they tend to overlook the ones who need evangelizing too, and they are already sitting their in the pews.
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To your point, pre Vat II , rounding of the numbers, 80% of Catholics went to mass faithfully on Sunday, 20% didn’t. Post Vat II, 80% don’t go to mass on Sunday, and 20% do go to mass faithfully. Meaning even IF priests taught about hell, 80% who aren’t even going to show up, and maybe some are C & E, they go Christmas and Easter, if that, aren’t there to hear it. Meaning that all those Catholics are in mortal sin for deliberatyely missing mass on Sunday. And if one dies in mortal sin… well they’ll find out that hell does exist.
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gcshapero:
It seems to be 1) for the sake of trying to attract outsiders, and 2) to avoid scaring off their own parishioners. There is a quota to be met for many parishes, and if people leave, they might not meet that quota.

This is also why contraception is rarely talked about.
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The full message is to be taught. No getting around it. No wimping out. The consequences are huge for bishops and priests who ignore their duties in teaching the faith, not to mention the rank and file who won’t even take the time to try and learn the faith and think they can plead ignorance. See the link to an NDE story here
 
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100% agree. Big time. Everything you said is totally right, and I’m with you. I’m not a fan of what I said, it’s just how I think it is moving forward. But the clerics have a huge responsibility to warn everyone about the realities of Hell, or it could mean their own souls.
 
steve-b said:
pre Vat II , rounding of the numbers, 80% of Catholics went to mass faithfully on Sunday, 20% didn’t. Post Vat II, 80% don’t go to mass on Sunday, and 20% do go to mass faithfully
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Pre Vatican II, the people in Catholic dominated Italy, Spain, Bavaria etc. supported Fascist/ Nazi governments. Post Vatican II, the church has been dedicated to peace and justice. If the imagery of hell and condemnation prompted people to support oppression, or even if it just reflected great evil already in the world, it is good that we have moved away from it.

St Faustina had her visions, wrote her diaries in Poland in the 1930s. I think it understandable that God showed people burning in agony as the example not just of evil, but also of evil’s punishment. There are still threats like that in our day, but they are rarely tear-the-fabric-of-the-universe and make unquenchable fire.
 
When my wife and I married 30 years ago, I asked our priest the same thing. Never got a good answer.
 
But surely, Dovekin, we should hear the whole gospel truth and not just the nice bits.
As for those in Italy, Bavaria and Spain who supported Fascism/Nazism, I doubt very much that it was the result of the church’s doctrinal teaching on Hell.
As for those who might leave the church if the preaching gets uncomfortable, well, I’m stumped. Hearing the truth about Hell and judgement ought to make them cleave to the church not run from it. I just don’t understand that mindset. But then there is so much else I don’t understand in life. Much as I would like to be highly educated I really feel sometimes that the learned over complicate everything.
 
Just a question if you can answer. You talked about going to confession with some frequency. I am not trying to talk down to you. This is an honest question. Why do you need to go to the church and sit in a confessional and talk to the priest and confess your sins to be saved. In John 14:6 it says, "6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
There are many more verses I could quote but I am not going to go crazy on you but where does it say no one comes to the father except through your priest.
1 John 1:9 all we have to is confess our sins to Jesus and he is our advocate with the Father.
So I hope you will answer and we can discuss. I am not going to preach to you. I just want to learn more about your belief.
Thanks
 
I am all for preaching the whole of the Good News. When Hell is presented as good news, I have no objection.
Too often it is used to encourage fear. Or it is preached to appeal to a kind of greed, “I want good things for me.”
St Gertrude, known for her visions of purgatory, declared that she would rather be in hell with Jesus than in heaven without him. Hell’s torments are placed in perspective, and used to affirm our love for Christ. For most people, the fear of hell is just not that important; their faith is bound up with being close to Jesus in any circumstance.
Many people leave Church when it is unpleasant there. Instead of the nice bits, they are encouraged to be afraid, to avoid all the evils of the world. Read Joyce’s Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man. These fearful attitudes underlie fundamentalism, and make people easy pickings for demagogues like Hitler or Mussolini.
People who are tormented by fear should be welcomed to the Church, and helped to know the comforting presence of God. They should know love is stronger than death, that there is a balm in Gilead that heals the fractured soul. When precious time is devoted to preaching ugliness and selfishness of hell, instead of preaching the greatness and glory of God, we all lose.

When is the last time you were moved to change your behavior because of Hell?
 
Oh those guys? They were just other Catholics with their own opinions. I read America Magazine. That’s all I need!
 
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