Near-death experiences

Do people who came back see what they say they saw?

The Church has not ruled on these accounts, and it would not treat one as adding to the faith if it did. Experiences that “seem to exceed the bounds of ordinary experiences and present themselves as having a supernatural origin”, visions and psychophysical phenomena among them, are for the Church to discern with care, and speaking accurately about them “can surpass the capabilities of human language”. Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena 6 As a general rule no authority declares such a phenomenon to be of divine origin, Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena 11 and even the most favourable judgment makes nothing an object of faith: the faithful “are not obliged to give an assent of faith to them”. Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena 12

The reason is where the Church places every such experience. Private revelations “do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith”; their role is not “to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it”. CCC 67 “No new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” CCC 66

What the Church does teach about death is this. Death “puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ”, CCC 1021 and each person “receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment”. CCC 1022 Life is lived once: “we shall not return to other earthly lives”, and “there is no ‘reincarnation’ after death”. CCC 1013

So nothing in the Church’s teaching denies that someone who was resuscitated saw something, and nothing confirms it; what they report is weighed against what has been revealed, not the other way round. CCC 67

Nicolas Poussin, The Ecstasy of Saint Paul, 1649–1650. Louvre, Paris.

2 Cor 12:4

1021

Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. Cf. 2 Tim 1:9-10. The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. the parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul -a destiny which can be different for some and for others. Cf. Lk 16:22; 23:43; Mt 16:26; 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23; Heb 9:27; 12:23.

1022

Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven-through a purification Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): DS — Denzinger–Schönmetzer (Enchiridion Symbolorum); Council of Florence (1439): DS — Denzinger–Schönmetzer (Enchiridion Symbolorum); Council of Trent (1563): DS — Denzinger–Schönmetzer (Enchiridion Symbolorum). or immediately, Cf. Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): DS — Denzinger–Schönmetzer (Enchiridion Symbolorum); John XXII, Ne super his (1334): DS — Denzinger–Schönmetzer (Enchiridion Symbolorum).-or immediate and everlasting damnation. Cf. Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): DS — Denzinger–Schönmetzer (Enchiridion Symbolorum).

At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love. St. John of the Cross, Dichos 64.

1013

Death is the end of man's earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. When "the single course of our earthly life" is completed, LG 48 # 3. we shall not return to other earthly lives: "It is appointed for men to die once." Heb 9:27. There is no "reincarnation" after death.

"The Christian economy, therefore, since it is the new and definitive Covenant, will never pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ." DV 4; cf. I Tim 6:14; Titus 2:13 Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.

Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the Magisterium of the Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ or his saints to the Church.

Christian faith cannot accept "revelations" that claim to surpass or correct the Revelation of which Christ is the fulfilment, as is the case in certain nonChristian religions and also in certain recent sects which base themselves on such "revelations".

Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena May 17, 2024

From the Catechism

From the Magisterium