Catholic Church

===Final judgement===
{{Main|Last Judgment#Catholicism}}
The Catholic Church teaches that, immediately after death, the [[Soul (spirit)|soul]] of each person will receive a [[particular judgment|particular judgement]] from God, based on their [[sin]]s and their relationship to Christ.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1021–1022,1039,1051|quote=The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life}}</ref><ref name="Schreck397">Schreck, p. 397</ref> This teaching also attests to another day when Christ will sit in universal judgement of all mankind. This [[Last Judgment|final judgement]], according to the church's teaching, will bring an end to human history and mark the beginning of both a new and better heaven and earth ruled by God in righteousness.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1038–1041}}</ref>

Depending on the judgement rendered following death, it is believed that a soul may enter one of three states of the afterlife:
* [[Heaven in Christianity#Roman Catholicism|Heaven]] is a state of unending union with the divine nature of God, not ontologically, but by grace. It is an eternal life, in which the soul contemplates God in ceaseless [[beatific vision|beatitude]].<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1023–1029,1042–1050}}</ref>
* [[Purgatory]] is a temporary condition for the purification of souls who, although destined for Heaven, are not fully detached from sin and thus cannot enter Heaven immediately.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1030–1032,1054}}</ref> In Purgatory, the soul suffers, and is purged and perfected. Souls in purgatory may be aided in reaching heaven by the prayers of the faithful on earth and by the [[intercession of saints]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/Library/Liturgy/zlitur215.htm|title=Saints' Prayers for Souls in Purgatory|publisher=Ewtn.com|access-date=28 October 2010|archive-date=30 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430072118/http://www.ewtn.com/Library/Liturgy/zlitur215.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Hell in Christian beliefs#Roman Catholicism|Final Damnation]]: Finally, those who persist in living in a state of mortal sin and do not repent before death subject themselves to hell, an everlasting separation from God.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1033–1037,1057}}</ref> The church teaches that no one is condemned to hell without having freely decided to reject God.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1058}}</ref> No one is [[predestination|predestined]] to hell and no one can determine with absolute certainty who has been condemned to hell.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|1037}}</ref> Catholicism teaches that through God's mercy a person can repent at any point before death, be illuminated with the truth of the Catholic faith, and thus obtain salvation.<ref name="Luke23">Christian Bible, {{bibleverse||Luke|23:39–43}}</ref> Some Catholic theologians have speculated that the souls of unbaptized infants and non-Christians without mortal sin but who die in [[original sin]] are assigned to [[limbo]], although this is not an official [[Dogma in the Catholic Church|dogma]] of the church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7529&CFID=32422018&CFTOKEN=46037657|title=Library: The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptised|publisher=Catholic Culture|date=19 January 2007|access-date=28 October 2010|archive-date=1 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501133631/http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7529&CFID=32422018&CFTOKEN=46037657|url-status=live}}</ref>

While the Catholic Church teaches that it alone possesses the full means of salvation,<ref name=CCC_816/> it also acknowledges that the Holy Spirit can make use of [[Ecclesial Community|Christian communities]] separated from itself to "impel towards Catholic unity"<ref name="ewtn.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.ewtn.com/library/Doctrine/subsistit.htm|title=Christ's Church Subsists in the Catholic Church|website=ewtn.com|access-date=27 August 2015|archive-date=20 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120114032/https://www.ewtn.com/library/Doctrine/subsistit.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and "tend and lead toward the Catholic Church",<ref name="ewtn.com"/> and thus bring people to salvation, because these separated communities contain some elements of proper doctrine, albeit admixed with [[heresy|errors]]. It teaches that anyone who is saved is saved through the Catholic Church but that people can be saved outside of the ordinary means known as [[baptism of desire]], and by pre-baptismal martyrdom, known as [[baptism of blood]], as well as when conditions of [[Invincible ignorance (Catholic theology)|invincible ignorance]] are present, although invincible ignorance in itself is not a means of salvation.<ref>{{cite CE1913|wstitle=Baptism|first=William|last=Fanning}} (See: "Necessity of baptism" and "Substitutes for the sacrament")</ref>