Will an unconfessed mortal sin send you to hell?

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While I do not have children of my own, I understand how painful something like this can be. A few years ago my older brother was killed by a reckless driver. He was good-hearted and loving, but he was a human like anyone else and he had his imperfections. In order to continue to function I have to believe that I will see him again, that he is with God.

When I was last in confession, the Priest told me that my feeling the need to be there is proof that God really does love and care about us. Since this is the case then that means there is always hope.
 
Was the unconfessed mortal sin unconfessed because you forgot or was it because you deliberately did not tell it?
 
If you’re going to comment you should at least make it clear that you’re not Catholic and not coming from a position of any knowledge on the faith.

According to the Catholic faith, yes, a mortal sin has the potential to send you to hell. It is also a serious sin to withold any sin in the confessional.
 
Exactly.

When sinner truly has no way to make Sacramental confession (as above when the young man was ignored by hospital staff, that sin is one those staffers will have to answer for!) and they make an act of perfect contrition and they die before they can go to Confession, that sin is forgiven.

Two things, first was it simply “egh, I don’t want to get out Saturday afternoon and go to confession because it is raining”? God knows the truth there.

Second, was it perfect contrition. That means that the sorrow was out of love for God and not merely fear of hell. Again, God knows.

God is not sitting up there hoping to send someone to hell in a “Gotcha”.
 
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Even though mortal sin has the potential to send you to hell. The thing is God is not bound by the sacraments. They are the manner in which His grace is most abundantly manifest. But I do believe that God will grant every opportunity to allow you to repent.

There is the famous story of St. John Vianney (I think, it might have been St. Padre Pio) who was counseling a woman whose husband had jumped off a bridge and committed suicide.
She said: He was a bad man, he beat me and the children. He drank and gambled and now he’s gone and left us with no means for survival.

He said: Yes. Perhaps this is true. But in the space between the bridge and the water, he may have been saved.

So even though confession is essential, God will take any way to save a lost soul.
 
almost2 said:
Will a unconfessed mortal sin send you to hell?

Or will unforgiveness send you to hell?
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With sacramental confession, the priest absolves the penitent. The penitent must acknowledge either their attrition (imperfect contrition - fear of hell) or contrition (sorrow for having offended God).

Absent sacramental confession, the penitent ought to confess to God their sins with perfect contrition. The sins are forgiven.

Pray for grace of final penitence. The grace of God’s forgiveness is already and always at hand. We but need to accept His grace.
 
Jamie5 said:
I think even after you die you’ll have a chance for a full contrition, at least I hope so. Because God knows one’s heart and soul better than we do, I hope.
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No, I am afraid that is not true. The state of your soul at the moment of death determines your destiny in eternity. If you die in a state of sin, then hell follows. If you die in a state of grace then heaven, perhaps through purgatory, follows.

There is no second chance after death. God has given us every opportunity in this life to choose Him before we die.
 
Jamie5 said:
There’s always exceptions to the rule, it’s a case by case basis and what exactly counts as a mortal sin because many vary with opinion
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Eh…no…they don’t vary with opinion. A mortal sin is always objectively wrong. Even if committed in ignorance. The person might not be fully culpable for various reasons but it’s still grave matter.
 
BroIgnatius said:
There is no second chance after death. God has given us every opportunity in this life to choose Him before we die.
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I know and believe in the Catholic rejection of the second chance, so I do not want you to think I’m subscribing to the false belief, but is there a theological name for the belief of a “second chance”? I thought I heard it with a name before.

Thank you.
 
I believe it’s called “second chance/judgement theory” or something. I saw that somewhere.

But you can always just call it heresy.

🤣
 
How about people who feel justified in lying or cheating or stealing or slandering.a person

Is this behavior a mortal sin?
 
How about people who feel justified in lying or cheating.?

And say that’s the way the world functions

Or everyone is like this
 
Its kind of like seeing the morals of the TV show Roseanne.

It has situational morals are not wrong
 
almost2 said:
Will a unconfessed mortal sin send you to hell?

Or will unforgiveness send you to hell?
Click to expand...
St. Faustina had also one daily prayer that she never missed which was, “O Jesus inspire people to pray for the dying”. St. Faustina said that by prayer, “God’s mercy can touch the sinner even at the last moment, in a wondrous and mysterious way. Outwardly, it seems as if everything is lost, but it is not so. The soul, illumined by a ray of God’s powerful final grace, can turn to God even in the last moment, with such a power of love that in an instant, it receives from God, forgiveness of all sin and punishment, while outwardly it shows no sign either of repentance or of contrition, because souls [at that stage] no longer react to external things”. (Diary 1698)

An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory

Excerpt :

I can tell you about the different degrees of Purgatory because I have passed through them. In the great Purgatory there are several stages. In the lowest and most painful, like a temporary hell, are the sinners who have committed terrible crimes during life and whose death surprised them in that state. It was almost a miracle that they were saved, and often by the prayers of holy parents or other pious persons. Sometimes they did not even have time to confess their sins and the world thought them lost, but God, whose mercy is infinite, gave them at the moment of death the contrition necessary for their salvation on account of one or more good actions which they performed during life. For such souls, Purgatory is terrible. It is a real hell with this difference, that in hell they curse God, whereas we bless Him and thank Him for having saved us.


Sr. Josefa Menendez (1890-1923) -Jesus’ Message to the World of His Mercy for All

“I would like these [those living with sin] to understand that it is not the fact of being in sin that ought to keep them from Me. They must never think that there is no remedy for them, nor that they have forfeited for ever the love that once was theirs… No, poor souls, the God who has shed all His Blood for you has no such feelings for you!”

“It is My intention also, to show souls that I never refuse grace, even to those who are guilty of grave sin; nor do I separate them from the good souls whom I love with predilection. I keep them all in My Heart, that all may receive the help needed for their state of soul.” -Jesus to Sr. Josefa Menendez

 
almost2 said:
How about people who feel justified in lying or cheating or stealing or slandering.a person

Is this behavior a mortal sin?
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Grave sin, that is required for qualification as mortal, is objectively known. It does not matter what a person thinks or believes. Grave sin is grave sin.

As to whether or not this grave sin becomes mortal depends. The person must know that it is grave, and must have unimpaired free will to choose to commit the sin anyway.

There are multitudes of possibilities that a person may be in “diminished responsibility” and thus not culpable for the grave sin (thus it is not mortal). For the most part only God knows where the line is drawn between culpability and diminished responsibility.

Thus, as can always hope for our loved ones who seemed not to have repented before death that they may have been in a state of diminished responsibility and made heaven after all. But, only God knows.

If we have committed a grave sin, even if we suspect we have diminished responsibility, we need to Confess it in the Sacrament anyway. We cannot presume (which is another grave sin) that we are not culpable. Thus, we ought to always consider ourselves culpable and Confess.
 
Thank you. I’ve wondered if he was able to convey his desires to God at the end. The last few hours of his life was awful. He was not in his mind anymore and was fighting the nurses all around him up to the time he went into respiratory arrest and died. So if he had to have his mind clear to be able to do that then he’s in trouble because he wasn’t able to do that. He didn’t even know me anymore. But if somehow, inside of him, his soul was able to speak to God for my son who wasn’t able to or if the Holy Spirit was able to speak to God for the intentions of my son…that is what I hope and pray for.
 
People getting too scrupulous here. As mentioned before no one really knows the answer. Obviously it can not be a resounding yes, because then according to many people’s beliefs if the sun exploded and everyone was vaporized, every single teenage boy would be sent to Hell. :roll_eyes:
 
Jamie5 said:
People getting too scrupulous here. As mentioned before no one really knows the answer. Obviously it can not be a resounding yes, because then according to many people’s beliefs if the sun exploded and everyone was vaporized, every single teenage boy would be sent to Hell. :roll_eyes:
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Not true. You are not understanding the Church’s teaching. No one goes to hell by default, or my mistake. In a case of the sun exploding, each person will be judged by the the intentions of their heart and their desires to seek God, just as it is with people who are not Christian are judged. God’s judgment, mercy, and love are perfect.

Now, it is best that we get right with God now, as we can never know when we may die suddenly. The fact that we die suddenly does not automatically mean we go to heaven. On the contrary the Bible teaches us otherwise. The point is that God will judge the heart and act accordingly even if the Sacraments or perfect contrition was not possible.

And, I have not read anyone here who has given answers to questions who was being scrupulous even a little bit.
 
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Dear one that doesn’t mean his soul wasn’t aware in that last instant of life.
 
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