Hell is eternal separation from God – a punishment which the damned suffer perpetually, without ever receiving the opportunity to repent. The end of time provides them no relief, as their punishment will only be confirmed. In Hell, there is truly no hope.
It may seem as though God, because He is all-loving and all-merciful, cannot allow for Hell to exist, or perhaps that Hell is only temporary, like Purgatory. But Jesus is clear not only that Hell exists, but that it is eternal. “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt 25:41). Our Lord is here plain as day that Hell is eternal.
“So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth” (Mt 13:49-50). After the close of the age, there can be no changing, for everything temporary will have ended – time, creation, and Purgatory. Thus, there will only be eternity, and eternity is unchanging because God is unchanging. As long as God will be God, which is forever, Heaven and Hell will exist and their contents shall not change.
“And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire” (Mk 9:43). Christ here commands us to root out occasions of sin in our lives so that we will not go to hell, which is the unquenchable fire. Sin is real, just as Hell is real, and the consequence for unrepented mortal sin is eternal separation from God.
We have already discussed how if God did not allow for humans to choose Hell, He would not be just, but a tyrant, and that if Hell did not exist there would be no Heaven, because there would be no love. Still, it can be difficult to accept Hell as a reality when we meditate on it. But Christ is clear throughout the Gospels that Hell is eternal and is a real possibility for us, if we sin gravely.
Though Christ uses fire or worms to describe Hell, Hell is infinitely worse than any of these earthly torments. Just as we cannot comprehend Heaven, neither can we comprehend Hell. The “fires of Hell” are merely symbolic. Hell is indeed full of physical tortures, but even amidst these tortures, the soul on fire with love for God could be eternally happy. The principal punishment of Hell is eternal separation from God. The damned chose themselves and turned their backs on God while on earth, and so for eternity they receive the fruit of their labors.
But, one might rebut, the Church has never said that anyone specifically has gone to Hell, but she has said that people have gone to Heaven. This statement is true insofar as everyone the Church has beatified or canonized is guaranteed to be in Heaven. It is also insofar as the Church has not said infallibly that any particular person is in Hell. But even so, Sacred Tradition holds that Hell is not empty. Our Lord even indicates so Himself: “It would have been better for that man [Judas Iscariot] if he had not been born” (Mt 26:24). The joys of Heaven exceed any torments infinitely. If Judas were to go to Heaven one day, even if he had to suffer for trillions of years, it would be infinitely better for him that he was born.
Moreover, even though the Church does not teach based on private revelations, almost all private revelations, especially those of our Blessed Mother, indicate that there are many souls in Hell. Our Lady said at Fátima that “the sins which cause most souls to go to hell are the sins of the flesh,” implying that there are souls in Hell (NCR July 13, 2017). St. Faustina saw visions of Hell in which the damned suffered grievously and for all eternity (Catholic News Agency Apr 24, 2022). St. John Bosco had a dream about Hell (he was known for having prophetic dreams), wherein He received knowledge that there were many souls there (Militia Immaculate.asia). To confirm one such dream’s authenticity, He put His hand against the wall of the outer rim of Hell, and after waking up and going about the day, his hand became callused and tender as though it had been burned.
Still, one could object that Hell does not need to be eternal. It could just be for a long period, and then the souls there could be saved. But this thinking misunderstands the gravity of the situation. The souls in Hell chose to turn their backs on the infinite and eternal God, Whom they despised through their last moments, and they are punished in proportion to their offense. The damned reject eternal happiness and so they receive eternal misery. Likewise, if Hell were not eternal, it would not be Hell, but merely a prolonged Purgatory. Yes, the sinner sinned in a moment. But “in no judgment is it required that punishment be equal to the fault of its duration. Though adultery and murder ,may be committed in an instant, a short punishment is not to be meted for [them]” (ST, 1-2.87.3 ad 1). One who sins offends Infinite Goodness, and so receives infinite punishment. We even deserve Hell by every venial sin we commit. But God in His infinite mercy does not damn us for venial sins, but allows us even to receive Him in the Most Holy Eucharist in such a state. It is only in mortal sin that the life of grace in our hearts is severed at the root. St. Thomas says that “since punishment cannot be infinite in intensity, because the creature is incapable of an infinite quality, it must needs be infinite at least in duration” (ST, 1.99).