Pope Declares: No One Is Going to Hell—Everyone Will Be Saved

On Sunday, November 2, 2025, Pope Leo XIV led the Angelus prayer at the Vatican on the occasion of All Souls’ Day, the liturgical feast dedicated to remembering those who have died and are in purgatory. In his message, the Pope told the crowd that while they pray for those “departed souls” still being purified, they can be confident that no one will be lost and that, through God’s mercy, everyone will eventually be saved and reach Heaven. Once again, Pope Leo XIV’s words present a sad reflection that contradicts Sacred Scripture, asserting that we can have a second chance at salvation after death, even if we reject the Gospel invitation in this life.

The Holy See Press Office published the following remarks by Pope Leo:

• “The focus of God’s concerns is clear: that no one should perish forever and that everyone should have their own place and radiate their unique beauty.” [1]

• “Today’s Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed brings this mystery even closer to us. Indeed, each time that death seems definitively to take away a voice, a face, or an entire world, interiorly we understand God’s concern that no one perish.” [1]

• “Christians always remember the deceased in every Eucharist and still today ask that those dear to them be remembered in the Eucharistic Prayer. From this proclamation arises the hope that no one will perish.” [1]

• “May Mary, the woman of Holy Saturday, teach us once again to hope.” [1]

The error of universal salvation is the belief that in the end everyone will be saved, regardless of faith, repentance, or obedience to God. This teaching contradicts Scripture, denies the reality of eternal separation from God for the unrepentant, and undermines the reality of divine judgment. The Catholic doctrine of purgatory, while claiming to purify souls after death, feeds into this false assurance by teaching that even those who die in sin can eventually be cleansed and enter Heaven through suffering and, of course, through the prayers, masses, and penance of the living. In this way, purgatory eliminates the biblical call to repentance in this life and replaces it with a false hope of eventual universal redemption.

God’s word is clear that even though He desires for all to be saved, not everyone will accept His invitation.

• Jesus Himself declared that many will choose the broad road to destruction, while only a few find the way to life: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:13–14.

• At the final judgment, humanity will be divided—the saved and the lost—with two distinct, eternal destinies: “He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats … And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Matthew 25:31–33, 46.

• Those who reject or disobey the gospel face destruction, not eternal life: “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.” 2 Thessalonians 1:8–9.

• Eternal life belongs to the overcomers; the unrepentant experience the second death: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Revelation 21:7–8.

The Bible also repeatedly teaches that the wicked will be completely destroyed, not eternally preserved in torment. This view—often called the annihilation of the wicked—shows that eternal life is based on conditions and belongs only to the redeemed, while the unrepentant ultimately perish:

• The wicked will vanish and cease to exist: “Evildoers shall be cut off … yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be … the enemies of the Lord shall perish; into smoke shall they consume away.” Psalm 37:9–10, 20.

• Death, not eternal life in misery, is the final result of sin: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4.

• Jesus warns that God can destroy the wicked, not eternally preserve them: “Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28.

• The contrast will be between perishing and everlasting life—not eternal suffering: “For God so loved the world that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

• Death is the punishment for sin, while eternal life is the gift from Christ: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23.

• The destruction of the wicked is final and irreversible: “Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.” 2 Thessalonians 1:9.

• The wicked meet a literal end—their final outcome is ruin: “Whose end is destruction.” Philippians 3:19.

• The destruction of Sodom is an example of the ultimate fate of the ungodly who were turned to ashes: “Turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.” 2 Peter 2:6

• The second death means complete extinction—final separation from God, not eternal conscious torment: “And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” Revelation 20:14–15.

God’s heart is one of love and redemption. He “is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God never meant for anyone to be lost. His heart breaks over every soul that turns away from His love. Jesus bore our sins, guilt, and shame so that we might have eternal life. This is evidence that Heaven is doing all it can to bring people to salvation. Yet the sad reality is that many will still perish, not because God wants it, but because they refuse His mercy. The loving arms of God are open wide to all who come to Him in repentance and humility while there is still time, and none who seek Him will be turned away.

As the Remnant Church of Revelation 12, we have been entrusted with a sacred mission: to proclaim the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Our message is not one of cheap grace or universal salvation—it is a call to true repentance and conversion and it must awaken people to confess their sins, turn from their ways, and surrender their lives fully to Christ. The false gospel of universalism—teaching that everyone will ultimately be saved regardless of how they live—must be rejected as a deception of the enemy. Such a message lulls souls into a false security and denies the holiness and purity that God’s law requires of every believer. Seventh-day Adventists must stand faithful, calling all to obedience, faith, righteousness, and readiness for the soon return of our Lord. At that time everyone’s destiny would have been forever decided (Revelation 22:11).

Sources

[1] https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/11/02/251102a.html