Does Everyone Go to Heaven?

Pastoral and Theological Reflection on the Life of the World to Come

Join the IHE for an event with His Excellency, The Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Ph.D., S.T.D., to begin the month of the Souls in Purgatory.

Preceding the address, please join the Bishop for the celebration of Holy Mass at 5:10 p.m. in Saint Vincent de Paul Chapel at Catholic University.

Cosponsored by Catholic University Campus Ministry and the Sister Thea Bowman Recommendations Coordination & Implementation Team.

The address is titled “Does Everyone Go to Heaven? Pastoral and Theological Reflection on The Life of the World to Come.” This challenging topic is one about which many people prefer not to think, but the Catholic Church puts the question of death and the hope of eternal life in the front of our consciousness during the month of November, when we are called to pray for the dead and for ourselves.

Bishop Braxton will examine the prevailing secular, scientific worldview that categorically rejects any possibility of “life after death,” as well as the tension between popular, devotional beliefs about the “afterlife” and the actual teachings of the Catholic Church about Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and Limbo. The Bishop will examine the argument that, due to its unique nature, language about “the life of the world to come” is neither verifiable nor falsifiable. He will explore the difference between “the immortality of the human soul” and “the resurrection of the body” and explain why the Catholic Funeral Mass is correctly called “The Liturgy of Christian Burial” and not “The Mass of the Resurrection.”

This event is free and open to the public. A reception with refreshments will follow.