Where does our soul go right after death?
Right after the death, the soul which is separated from the body, undergoes a ‘particular judgement’. Particular judgment, is the divine judgment that a departed person undergoes immediately after death, in contradistinction to the general judgment (or Last Judgment) of all people at the end of the world. If the departed soul is deprived of sanctifying grace it goes to hell immediately. And if the soul has sanctifying grace, it is bound to heaven. The entry into heaven will be immediate provided the soul has no unremitted temporal punishment and unconfessed venial sins. If yes, the entry is gradual as it has to undergo purification in purgatory in order to sufficiently expiate the defilement of the soul.
Every sin has two kinds of punishments; an eternal punishment of hell and a temporal punishment. Baptism, confession and the sacrament of sick lifts the eternal punishment. These sacraments bestows a person with sanctifying grace. Temporal punishment may be remitted by prayer, penance, fasting and almsgiving. It can also be remitted through indulgences by the virtue of the merits of communion of saints, or after death in purgatory.
Those who enter heaven will enjoy beatific vision proportional to their merit.
Dr. Nelson Thomas
Disclaimer!
The views, thoughts, opinions presented here belong solely to the author and are not necessarily the official view of the Jesus youth movement.
what if the departed person is not a christian who haven’t received the sacraments?
Anyone who die in state of sanctifying grace (not in a state of mortal sin) are saved. The ordinary means of getting the lost grace by the original sin is by the sacrament of baptism and later by our own sins is by the sacrament of reconciliation.
Extraordinary means of salvation would be by baptism of desire, baptism of blood and for later sins by an act of perfect contrition.
There is no salvation outside Catholic Church. If anybody is saved he/she is saved by Jesus Christ through Catholic Church alone.
“Those COULD NOT be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.” LG 14
However this affirmation doesn’t include “those who, through no fault of their own (INVINCIBLE ignorance), do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – those too MAY achieve eternal salvation.” LG 16
However, there is no assurance for the salvation through this unknown but only known way for God. “Catechism says that “they may be saved”
Also see catechism sections from 836 to 838 to see who all belongs to Church.