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Do Catholics believe in the Rapture?

Salvation & Last Things

The short answer

Catholics believe that Christians still living at Christ's Second Coming will be caught up with those who died in Christ to be with the Lord forever. But they do not generally use the term "Rapture," and they do not believe in a Rapture before the Second Coming, as many Evangelicals do.

Where the word comes from

"Rapture" is connected to the Latin rapiemur, "we shall be caught up," in the Vulgate's text of 1 Thessalonians: the dead in Christ will rise first, then the living will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord, and so be with him always (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

What Catholics believe

Christians still alive at the Second Coming will be gathered with those who have died in Christ, to be forever with the Lord.

What Catholics don't believe

Catholics do not generally use the term "Rapture," nor do they believe in a Rapture some time before the Second Coming, as many Evangelicals do.