Question: What do Catholics believe about the end of the world?

Answer: We hear the phrase “the end of the world” casually today. Often in film or media, it means the end of civil society or the threat of human annihilation by natural disasters. For the Christian, our perspective is distinctly Christ-centered. Numerous times through the Gospel, Jesus notes that he will come again, even after he has ascended into heaven. The Church typically refers to this as the Second Coming of Jesus or the Latin “Parousia,” meaning “presence” or “arrival.”

We believe that Christ will come again, and at his Second Coming, temporal time will end. Human history will end, at least as we know it. However, it doesn’t mean that creation will be destroyed. The book of Revelation speaks of a renewal, indeed a “new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1). Christ will come again in glory. Our souls will be reunited with our bodies. While our lives were judged individually at our deaths, which we call the particular judgment, something new will happen here. Theologians call it the general judgment or the last judgment, in which our deeds and the effects — for good or ill — will be known to all. For the early Christians, this second coming was hoped for! They knew it was the completion of God’s work of redemption for the human race. We, too, should pray with them, “Come Lord Jesus!”