Current Catholic teaching is that some go straight to heaven. Some with unresolved issues are in a state of "preparation and purification" called purgatory. The Catechism says that some think of purgatory as flames and punishment, but that there is no reason to insist that it's flames and punishment.

My view is that purgatory is kind of like Mitch Alkbom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven - you meet people or relive experiences to resolve the unresolved issues in your life.

I've read very credible Catholic authors who think that there will be very few people in hell.

In the past, Catholics were strongly influenced by Dante's Inferno and Purgatorio. Current teaching is much more vague that it once was. I think that's a sign of growth.

-Joe-