According to the Catchism, Hell is a place (state of being?) where mortal sin is punished. Mortal sin requires three conditions:
1. Grave matter. These are the big sins, murder, adultery, etc. I heard once that breaking the 10 Commandments qualifies as grave matter.
2. Full knowledge that the act is grave matter. If you don't know it's wrong, it's not a mortal sin to do it. Still a sin, but you won't go to Hell for it.
3. Full consent of the will. This particularly applies to mothers who terminate pregnancies. The Church understands that she is between a rock and a hard place, and (as far as I know), does not accuse her of the mortal sin of murder. Having to choose between mortal sin and worse evil, the Church teaches that God will understand if you try to aviod the worse evil.
The Catechism also teaches that Christ descended into Hell to deliver those in "Abraham's bosom," though not the damned. It is silent about any salvation of fallen angels. :)
It seems to me that the Protestant and Catholic views differ in that the Catholic Church sees your salvation as a matter of dealing with sins one at a time-confess, be absolved, and receive the Eucharist. In the Protestant tradition, Christ's sacrifice on Calvary was sufficient to cover all sins for all time, and one confession is enough to wash all one's sin.
The end result seems to be the same-confess your sins, be forgiven by Christ, and go to Heaven. |
