Is Hell Assured if You’ve Never Gone to Confession?

There is no doubt that the sacrament of reconciliation is the normative way for one’s sins to be forgiven following baptism. However, it’s important not to conclude too much, as if God’s merciful love is limited to the celebration of the sacraments. As the Catechism provides, “God has bound salvation to the sacrament of baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments” (1257, emphasis original).

Here we are reminded to avoid the polar opposite mortal sins: presumption and despair. So let us be vigilant in word and deed in praying that all may be one as Jesus and the Father are one (see John 17:20-23).