Posted on 03/31/2026 11:14:35 AM PDT by ebb tide
Bishop Robert Barron has published an article advocating for the view that Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus Christ, is not in hell.
On March 29, Barron’s article entitled “Even Judas? Rethinking sin, despair and divine mercy this Palm Sunday” appeared on the Fox News website. While acknowledging that Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and “most theologians” have believed Judas went to hell either for betraying Christ or for self-murder, Barron presented a “counter-view”: a 12th century carving apparently showing the Good Shepherd carrying the dead Judas over his shoulders.
“Pope Francis was so fond of this image that he had a reproduction of it over his desk in his papal office. It showed, for him, the hope that even Judas might have been saved by the overwhelming mercy of the Lord,” writes Barron.
The bishop asks readers not to send him letters, as he knows “that we cannot embrace a simple-minded universalism, which says that we are perfectly confident that all people will be saved. We do indeed have to admit to the very real possibility of an eternal rejection of God.” The rest of Barron’s article treats on the topic of people who commit suicide and how we need not despair for them but “pray for them and commend them to God’s mercy” instead.
Barron’s initial argument for the possibility that Judas has been spared damnation was his clear contrition, as witnessed by the Gospel of Matthew. However, the bishop does not address the fact that the Gospel does not state that Judas repented of his despair.
In response to Barron’s article, pundit Matt Gaspers pointed out that the traditional teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, found in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, is that Judas “lost soul and body.”
Canon lawyer Ed Peters observed, “Acknowledgment of having sinned, and repentance for having sinned, are two different things.”
Bishop Barron has previously faced criticism for suggesting that hell may be empty, a theological speculation popularised by theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar in his 1988 work Dare We Hope ‘That All Men Be Saved’?
Bishop Barron also scandalized faithful Catholics by describing Jesus as the “privileged route” – rather than the only way (Acts 4:12) – to salvation, praising a book by notorious LGBT activist Father James Martin, S.J., and telling a “married” homosexual commentator that he would not seek to reverse homosexual “marriage,” among other incidents.
“I don’t think I want to press it further,” Barron told Dave Rubin about homosexual “marriage” in a 2017 interview. “I think it would probably cause much more problems and dissension and difficulty if we keep pressing it.”
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Ping
A priest once said- “we don’t know where people go after death, unless they’re saints. Judas might or might not have gone to hell, but it doesn’t look good for him”
Leave it at tgat. But no, some people who are prone to this kind of controversy just need to do this.
If he repented in his last time here, then he did. The Bible says so and I would argue he did what the Lord wanted less He would not have been crucified for us.
Tom Anderson, the editor of Farm & Ranch magazine, once told of two churches across the street from one another—one was conservative and the other liberal. One Sunday, the marquee in front of the liberal church read, “there ain’t no hell.” Whereupon a message appeared on the conservative church’s marquee reading, “to hell there ain’t!”
Whether Judas Iscariot went to hell is a subject of intense theological debate, with scripture providing no explicit final answer. While traditionally viewed as damned due to Jesus’ words (Matthew 26:24, Mark 14:21) and his suicide, some argue his remorse (Matthew 27:3) or God’s ultimate, incomprehensible mercy makes his final fate uncertain.
Living Waters
Arguments Regarding Judas’s Fate:
Traditional View (Damnation): Many Christians believe Judas went to hell because he betrayed Christ, did not exhibit true repentance, and committed suicide. Jesus referred to him as the “son of destruction” and noted it would be better if he was never born.
Argument for Hope/Uncertainty: Some theologians and commentators argue that only God can judge a soul’s final state. They highlight that Judas felt remorse and returned the silver. Some argue his actions were part of a predetermined divine plan for salvation.
Alternative Perspectives: Some interpretations, as seen in online discussions, explore whether Judas’s remorse constituted a form of repentance, or if he was simply a victim of temptation whose fate is not for humans to decide, as shown in discussions on Catholic Answers.
Ultimately, the Catholic Church, for example, does not officially confirm that any specific person is in hell, leaving open the possibility of divine mercy, even at the point of death.
After betraying Christ Jesus, the Iscariot certainly recognized and deeply regretted his grave sin.
In his misery, he nevertheless had the clear opportunity to confessed his sin to Jesus himself, and ask for his forgiveness.
Forgoing this course of action, and promptly inflicting his own death by hanging, could be nothing other than a clear choice in favor of eternal perdition.
His Excellency Bishop Barron, and those who think as he does on this question, are off their rockers. It must be a consequence of a hidden sinful lifestyle darkening his intellect in certain important ways.
Barron will be joining Judas one day, wherever the Lord sent him.
Actually, that is exactly what Bishop Barron said.
Baron is I good guy who believes in the heresy of Apokatastasis. Just like Origen
Pope Benedict’s theologian-friend Hans Urs Von Balthasar has a book entitled “Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved?” Jesus was trying so hard in the Garden to save Judas’ soul calling him “Friend”. Judas seemed close to repentance but it is said that he despaired and didn’t repent. The Church has never officially taught that any specific human being is lost but how much clearer could the Scripture be about Judas?:
“While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction.” -John 17:12
I like Bishop Barron but he seems to overthink things at times.
“ Actually, that is exactly what Bishop Barron said.”
Maybe. I didnt see that in this horribly confusing article
I don’t suppose you would quote it
Jesus speaking of Judas, “It would be better for him, had he never been born”
It’s a wonderful message of salvation by a God who wants all to come to repentance.
However, there are two things against Judas that can’t be overlooked. Jesus said it would be better for him had he never been born. That isn’t a hopeful statement of repentance nor salvation. Neither is the teaching that sins against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this life or the next. What is this sin? Despair. Despairing of salvation and turning away from God (as in suicide) is rejecting salvation. God respects our free will and will not save us without our consent. As noted in the article… all it takes is one tear of repentance.
How powerful would have been the story of repentance if Judas had crawled back to Jesus after the resurrection to beg for forgiveness. Jesus wouldn’t have rejected him and it would have been an amazing testimony of the love of God and the salvation of all souls who long for Him. However, Jesus lamented it was not to be when He said it would be better for him had he never been born.
I am in agreement with Augustine and Aquinas… sad as it is.
That being said… the final disposition of souls is way beyond my pay grade. God may welcome into His Kingdom anyone He chooses.
Just my two cents.
So ebby, yesterday I informed FR and you that Bishop Barron disagreed with your LieSite article about little miss prejean and her clear public misbehavior, which you promptly contacted the Religion Moderator to get removed. Today you post a scandalous LieSite article negatively impacting Bishop Barron. ImagineThat!
After we ate of the forbidden fruit, we,
being made in the image of God, are
now held to a higher standard.
We all fail to meet that standard.
Jesus was sent to teach and save us.
Obviously because of Geography and
social customs, not everyone is a Christian.
Christians make up the largest number
of people in any religion on earth,
By some account there are 2 Billion of us.
World population is 8.3 billion or so.
We all have eternal souls that live forever,
since we are made in the image of God.
Our bodies will fail and die, but our
souls do not die.
So what happens to the eternal part
of all of us?
I don’t know and I certainly
don’t believe we will ever find
out till we get there.
I do Believe that following the teachings
of Christ, dealing with the all pains,
we experience, will make all our Earthly
lives better.
True story: during the Earling, Iowa exorcism in the 1920's, one of the priests asked the demon why he couldn't repent and rejoin the good angels. The demon didn't explain, he just sneered, "Are you a competent theologian?"
Jesus’ words that it would be better for him that he never been born really puts the lie to this theory. Does Barron even address this? There really is no reasonable argument around it. At a certain point incompetence is culpable.
>>>Now I know (please don’t send me letters of complaint) that we cannot embrace a simple-minded universalism, which says that we are perfectly confident that all people will be saved. We do indeed have to admit to the very real possibility of an eternal rejection of God. And yet St. Pope John Paul II insisted that the Church has never made a definitive statement regarding whether any particular person is in hell. And Pope Benedict said that we should suspend judgment in regard to Judas, committing him to the mercy and justice of God. But again, wouldn’t his suicide guarantee that he has gone to eternal perdition?<<<<
He used more words to say the same thing, but quoted two Popes and one of whom is a Saint.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.