Expert: Fr. Timothy Johnson - 1/8/2008

Question
I wasn't raised religious but recently I've been thinking a lot about faith and religion and one thing that I keep coming back to is my father's death.  I'm curious what the position is from the Catholic church on someone like my father.

He wasn't a perfect person, although my knowledge of his strengths/faults are limited as he died when I was ten.  However he was a devout Roman Catholic in his youth and came from a very Catholic family including my uncle who was a Priest.  He went to Catholic school all the way through Law school at St. Johns in Minnesota and then lapsed in his faith after serving in Vietnam and he never took us to church other than to pay our respects to family members who passed away.

My questions really comes down to would my dad be in Heaven according to Catholic teachings or would he be in Hell?  (I'm not entirely sure whether he was given the last rights though I'm fairly sure he wasn't.)

Answer
Hi, Jeff:
Thanks for the question.
Maybe your Dad is in Purgatory; maybe even probably.  Do you pray for the respose of his soul?
Let us pray: "Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.  May he rest in peace. Amen."
The only position of the Catholic Church is the objective presentation of Jesus Christ as the Incarnate Son of God, the Word-made-flesh, Who visited the world for the salvation of men.  Divine Faith is the response possible to this invitation.
In the case of Canonized Saints, only on these has the Church made a definitive and official declaration that they are in Heaven (enjoying the Beatific Vision); but more than that, there was something in their earthly life before their death that is worthy of imitation because of some heroic virtue impelled by Divine Grace, and their response to and cooperation with the Grace of God.
The Catholic Church does not have lists of those who are burning in hell, and does not speculate on such matters in particular cases.  We can only hope that God, Who sees us and knows us better than others, even than ourselves, is both a just and a merciful God.  Only God knows the true state and depths of individual human souls.
Maybe your Father suffered some kind of psychological trauma in Vietnam from which he was never really able to recover, though maybe he did not truly and completely lose his faith.  It is indeed very tragic to see such cases where a person falls away from the active practice of what once seemed to be a sincere and regular responsiveness in past, former years.
But as to whether your Dad is in Heaven or Hell according to Catholic teaching: there is no Catholic teaching or declaration in such particular cases, in a particular way that you are seeking.  What is important is your situation and YOUR faith life here-and-now.  We need to be occupied with living the Gospel as faithful members of the Church that Jesus Christ founded, and letting others know wbout it through the authenticity of our own lives and practice.
I am sorry that you have lost your Father, though I guess that everybody dies some day, sooner or later, including even me and you.  The question is: "Are we ready?"

Now mind you, there are plenty of false religions out there that would be quicker than you could ask the question who would place your Father right in Heaven, or straight in the depths of Hell.  Since I am not God, and do not know the depths of the mind of God, I will refrain from such fictitious, forensic judgments outside of my competency, let alone human ability to know.
Let us commend your Father to the mercy of God, and pray that he may experience eternal life as the fulfillment of his original Baptism and faith.

Fr. Timothy Johnson