.. (but) there have never been wanting theologians who
interpret the scriptural term fire metaphorically as denoting an
incorporeal fire and thus far the Church has not censured their opinion"
(Cath. Encyclo., VIII, 211.)
While the pain of loss and the pain of sense constitute the very essence
of the punishment of Hell, theologians teach that there are other
sufferings called accidental. The reprobate never experience v.g. the
least real pleasure nor are they ever free from the hideous presence of
one another. After the Last Judgment the lost souls will also be
tormented by union with their bodies, a union bringing about a fresh
increase of punishment. On this subject, for our information Dante
addresses Virgil his guide through Hell: "Master, will these torments
after the great sentence increase or diminish?" Virgil explains that
they will become worse because when the soul is united again to the body
there will be perfection of being and the resulting sensitiveness will
be the more intense.
"Return unto thy science," answers Virgil, "which wills that as a thing
more perfect is the more it feels of pleasure and of pain." (Inf., VI,
40.)
Dante also holds that only by way of exception is there any escape from
Hell once a soul is condemned.
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