Father Mike Schmitz says hell exists as human choice given by God in his goodness

Jan 2, 2026 / 20:17 pm (CNA).

The existence of hell as an option for human beings at the end of life is proof of God’s goodness, according to Father Mike Schmitz.

“At the end of our lives, he simply gives us what we’ve actually chosen,” Schmitz said during his talk, titled “…And at the Hour of Our Death,” at the SEEK 2026 conference in Columbus, Ohio. “I think this is incredible to realize, that if I want not God, I get not God.”

“At some point, if with my choices, I’ve said, ‘God, I want not you,’ he lets me have not him — which is another way to say, hell,” he continued. “That’s what hell is. Hell is existence apart from God. If that’s what I want, God, in his goodness, in God’s justice, he’ll give that to me.”

Some 26,000 attendees have gathered through Jan. 5 in Columbus, Denver, and Fort Worth, Texas, for the SEEK 2026 conference organized by FOCUS.

Schmitz addressed various ways Christians think about death, noting that what we believe tells us a lot about how we see life and the degree to which we trust God. He then highlighted a theory that posits that God reveals himself at the hour of our death in his full glory, so that it becomes impossible not to choose him and, therefore, for anyone to go to hell.

This theory, Schmitz said, “is B as in S.”

“That is, bologna sandwich,” he clarified.

“Not only is it false, but it makes God a tyrant,” he said. “God tolerates our evil choices to preserve our free will. God doesn’t want any of us to sin. He tolerates that. God allows us to do that to preserve our freedom. Why? Because God’s saying, ‘You matter, your choices matter.’”

Schmitz pointed out that if at the end of life, “after allowing us to go through an entire life, lifetimes, where our choices hurt people around us,” God were to overwhelm human capacity to choose God, it would be “slavery.”

“If God, at the moment of our death, is going to force us to choose him because of his love, he’s a bad God,” he said. “Why? Because if God has known this whole time that the last, greatest, most important choice of our life, he was going to strip away from us, rendering our entire previous life meaningless, why did he keep us in this world of suffering?”

“The fact that God preserves our freedom even if we don’t want him demonstrates to us that he is still good,” Schmitz said. “The existence of hell, the reality of hell, the fact that our choices matter are the only thing that preserves God’s goodness.”

Ultimately, Schmitz told conference participants, “all of this starts right now.” Referencing “The Grinch,” he pointed out that while purgatory serves as a sort of “plan B,” life “is meant to be the place where God grows your heart two sizes two big.”

“You guys, purgatory has already started,” he said in conclusion. “Which means heaven has already started every day.”

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/268819/seek-2026-father-schmitz