from Old English hel; Scripture's Gehenna and Hades
Hell
The state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed, chosen by dying in mortal sin without repentance; its chief punishment is eternal separation from God.
We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him, and we cannot love him if we sin gravely against him or our neighbour and refuse to repent. The Catechism describes hell as the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God, and stresses that God predestines no one to it: a wilful turning away, persisted in to the end, is required. Its principal punishment is eternal separation from the God in whom alone we can have the life and happiness we were made for. Jesus speaks of it more than anyone else in Scripture, as a warning meant to be heeded.
Councils
Where the Church settled or debated this. Follow a council to read our article on it, or the decrees themselves.
- 1215Fourth Lateran Councilthe decrees
- 1431–1445Council of Basel–Ferrara–Florencethe decrees
Sources checked 29 September 2026