There have been saints that expressed what seems like a very gloomy future for humanity. Some of them thought that not many people will be saved. Perhaps the Bible verse below can give us an idea why:
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” – Matthew 7:13-14 (NABRE)
Here are some quotes from the saints about hell and the fewness of those who will be saved:
“The greater part of men choose to be damned rather than to love Almighty God.” -St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori
“Those who are saved are in the minority.” -St. Thomas Aquinas
“What do you think? How many of the inhabitants of this city may perhaps be saved? What I am about to tell you is very terrible, yet I will not conceal it from you. Out of this thickly populated city with its thousands of inhabitants not one hundred people will be saved. I even doubt whether there will be as many as that!” -St. John Chrysostom
“The majority of men shall not see God, excepting those who live justly, purified by righteousness and by every other virtue.” -St. Justin the Martyr
“The number of the elect is so small — so small — that, were we to know how small it is, we would faint away with grief: one here and there, scattered up and down the world!” -St. Louis Marie de Montfort
“Shall we all be saved? Shall we go to Heaven? Alas, my children, we do not know at all! But I tremble when I see so many souls lost these days. See, they fall into Hell as leaves fall from the trees at the approach of winter.” -Saint John Mary Vianney
The Narrow Path
If we look at the world around us, we can see how hard it is for people to reach heaven. Our personal experiences alone shows us how hard it is to live holy lives. How many sins do we commit each day? Even if we resolve to change, we go back again and again to the sins we have previously confessed.
Statistics show how the Christian faith is in decline in the western world. Even now, only about a third of the population profess to believe in Jesus. And how many among those who declare themselves to be Christians live out their calling to love God and neighbor?
It’s not that salvation is impossible for non-Christians. Lumen gentium states: “Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, yet sincerely seek God and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do his will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience.”
But how many people are there who sincerely seek God today?
How Many People Are Now In Hell?
It is worth noting that the Catholic Church has not officially declared any person to be in hell. Not even Judas. The Church has declared many saints who are now in heaven, but no person has ever been declared to be in hell.
That does not mean, however, that no one is actually in hell.
If we look at the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima, one of the visions shown to the children is the reality of hell. The children saw demons and souls in a sea of fire.
St. Faustina also talked about her vision of hell and said that most of the souls that go there are those who disbelieved in hell.
“I saw two roads. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of pleasures. People walked along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They reached the end without realizing it. And at the end of the road there was a horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell. And their number was so great that it was impossible to count them.” (Diary 153).
Some Possibilities to Think About
After reading the above, what could we possibly conclude? Will the majority of human beings indeed go to hell?
Is it possible that the visions the saints saw were for a future that can still be changed if we amend our lives right now?
From another perspective, perhaps the saints could be referring to all of those people who are living lives that are far from God. And only God knows how many of these people would repent before the end.
We can also consider the state of purgatory where many people go. It is said that the sufferings there are just as intense as that in hell (although it is only temporary).
A Ray of Hope
While the above scenarios are dim when it comes to the salvation of humanity, we should not lose faith in God’s mercy.
Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Spe Salvi tells us that most people who die would not be pure enough for heaven nor lost enough to go to hell.
Here is the description for the few who may directly go to hell:
“There can be people who have totally destroyed their desire for truth and readiness to love, people for whom everything has become a lie, people who have lived for hatred and have suppressed all love within themselves. This is a terrifying thought, but alarming profiles of this type can be seen in certain figures of our own history. In such people all would be beyond remedy and the destruction of good would be irrevocable: this is what we mean by the word Hell.”
And here is what it says about those who may directly enter heaven (the narrow gate):
“On the other hand there can be people who are utterly pure, completely permeated by God, and thus fully open to their neighbours—people for whom communion with God even now gives direction to their entire being and whose journey towards God only brings to fulfilment what they already are.”
For the majority of people who die, here is the rest of the excerpt from Spe Salvi:
“For the great majority of people—we may suppose—there remains in the depths of their being an ultimate interior openness to truth, to love, to God. In the concrete choices of life, however, it is covered over by ever new compromises with evil—much filth covers purity, but the thirst for purity remains and it still constantly re-emerges from all that is base and remains present in the soul.”
The Infinite Mercy of God
God invites us to come to Him. It is in Him where we can find peace and the forgiveness of our sins. He is the Father who loves His children. He sent Jesus Christ, His Son, to die on the cross and to save us from the power of death.
Hell may be real. But it doesn’t have to be our destiny.
“My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls — no one have I excluded!” – Jesus to St. Faustina, Divine Mercy In My Soul (1182)
God knew that we cannot reach heaven through our own efforts alone. So He came to us so that He Himself could lead us there.
When you hear His voice today, come to Him. Do not despair in your sins. But trust in the infinite love and mercy of Jesus Christ.
“Come now, let us set things right,
says the Lord:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be red like crimson,
they may become white as wool.”
-Isaiah 1:18 (NABRE)
Jocelyn Soriano writes about relationships and the Catholic faith at “Single Catholic Writer”. She wrote the books 366 Days of Compassion, Defending My Catholic Faith and Questions to God.
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