Question
My priest said there are different levels of heaven and hell. Where can I find Church documentation on this?
Answer
The
term "levels" of heaven and hell to describe the degrees of punishment
or reward reflects the literary imagery of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy
more than the language of the Church. "Degrees" of perfection or
punishment is the proper term. The degree of perfection of the beatific
vision granted to the just is proportioned to each one’s merits.
The . . . Council of Florence (1439) declared the souls
of the perfectly just clearly behold the Triune and One God as he is,
but corresponding to the difference of their merits, the one more
perfectly than the other. The Council of Trent defined that the
justified person merits an increase of the heavenly glory by good works.
(Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, 479)
Scriptural support may be found at: Matthew 16:27; 1 Corinthians 3:8;
2 Corinthians 9:6; 1 Corinthians 15:41. The punishment of the damned is
proportioned to each one’s guilt.
The Union Councils of Lyons and of Florence declared that
the souls of the damned are punished with unequal punishments . . .
This is probably intended to assert not merely a specific difference in
the punishment of original sin and of personal sins, but also a
difference in the degree of punishment for personal sins [cf. Matt.
11:22; Luke 20:47]. . . . St. Augustine teaches "In their wretchedness
the lot of some of the damned will be more tolerable than that of
others. Justice demands that the punishment be commensurate with the
guilt." (Ott, Fundamentals, 482)
Ludwig Ott’s book can be purchased from http://shop.catholic.com.