Catholic Dictionary
Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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DAMNATION
The conscious eternal loss of the vision of God. The state of being damned by reason of one's own deliberate estrangement from God. This is the lot of the demons, and of those who die in mortal sin. It is damnation because it is the result of a just sentence pronounced by God on those who are guilty. It is eternal because it is irrevocable, being pronounced to be unending in its consequences (Matthew 25). The condemned are no longer in a state of probation, and no longer able to expiate or repent (Luke 16). (Etym. Latin damnatio, condemnation; from damnum, damage, loss, fine.)
