Well, Catholics believe that those who do good will receive reward for it in Heaven, even if they did not believe in God while on earth. Because God is just, and some might have good reason not to believe. They will be judged on how much they obeyed the godly truths they were taught in the place they were in, or that their heart told them. Gods laws are written in our hearts, so, we follow, or we reject.
Also, yes, we know from scripture that Jesus explained that some just make it into the eternal Heaven at the last minute, as in a deathbed confession, like you say.
I am going to link you here to a little booklet by a modern day prophet (or mystic). The reason why I am linking you to it is to show you exactly where atheists stand with God - who
does exist, if they want to admit it or not. Anne records the words of Jesus and also some Saints or Apostles and Mary, all pertaining to a particular topic for our times in these booklets. This is
"Heaven Speaks to Those Who Have Rejected God". I like that God chose someone like Anne to speak to in a special way, who has had a normal life, and, I found in reading Volume Two, is such a regular person that she even she still had not yet overcome such habits as smoking and swearing - while God was speaking to her in this favored way! She is a real, "everyday" kind of person. Booklets are $2, Volumes are $5, or you can read them free online, in 17 languages.
We venerate her as "God's Masterpiece". Not such backhanded compliment.
LOL. If that was His intention, then it certainly would be incompetent. It is His desire to we learn to overcome sin. But its the "free will" factor that means everything. He does not want us to be puppets that He operates, pulling our strings. He wants our free consent.
Remembering this question of yours is why I wanted to link you to the above booklet. Its one of my favorites, since my Dad, who has passed away, had a "scientific mind" and was not inclined to believe, even though he attended church with my mother, like a good husband. He probably inherited this attitude from his father, who never went to church again after his Episcopalian Church refused to remarry him after divorce. So I have wondered these things myself. And I feel at peace with what is written in that booklet concerning this matter.
Well even an inherently good person does not always do the right thing. For example, out of fear they might be dishonest or cheat. So many factors! But we have a place to work all this out; its Purgatory. Jesus brought Anne there and she wrote about it in her book,
Mist of Mercy. I will send you a copy if you want, also
anyone who is curious and PM's me I will send them a copy. You will agree with what Anne said, after seeing various parts of it - that if God thinks you need to spend some time there, you won't mind at all. Its a good place.
One of my favorite spiritual books is
A Man Called Peter, by Catherine Marshall. Peter was her wonderful husband, a Presbyterian Pastor, who was chaplain for the senate, was popular and well-loved by all, and died rather young and unexpectedly. Its a beautiful love story of the two of them and a beautiful faith story. Catherine had a vision of her husband after he died. He was in a rose garden, tending roses - something he always loved to do but had little time for. He was happy - and if I recall correctly, he was "thinking" some things out, and Catherine noticed he was a little "bewildered", as his death was unexpected, though he was at great peace. This vision Catherine had of her husband imprinted on my mind, and I think God intended it to so I would remember it when I learned more about His Purgatory someday.
When my Dad died a few years back, it left a hole. The day of the funeral, my eldest brother, his namesake, had a dream that seemed more real than a dream, which he told. He saw my Dad walking down a nice empty country road, with a dog wagging his tail beside him, and my Dad turned around to look at him and smiled, and kept walking. It was as good for me as if I had had this dream. I am sure God gave it to us all through him to comfort us. Because my Dads mobility had been severely impaired by Parkinson's for a long time before he died, and he spent his final months confined to the hospital and a nursing home. To walk, free and able, in the fresh air, on a country road, with a dog (he had had a dog growing up as an only child that he loved) with a great sense of peace seems just exactly what he would need after his ordeal.
I do think both these visions are of purgatory.