by Kathryn Wilcox

Created on: December 03, 2010

 I remember learning about Purgatory when I was a child.  But when I mention it, even to fellow Catholics, I often get a raised eyebrow look of disbelief.  So, is there a Purgatory and what is the Catholic teaching about it?

 The Church has a great body of historical documents on church dogma to go to and I found a great deal of information including the following facts:

New Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994: 

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.606 The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire: 607

In the Catholic Encyclopedia, I found that the doctrine was based on the Old Testament scripture, Macabees 12:43 and 12 46.  It has been reviewed and affirmed by St Ambrose (397), Pope St Gregory (604), the Council of Lyons (1274), The Council of Florence (1431), the Council of Trent (1563), Vatican I and Vatican II  (1962) and most recently in the New Catholic Catechism (1994). Then there are the saints who have addressed the subject and also agreed that the teaching is valid. They include: St Teresa of Avila, St Bridget of Sweden, St Catherine of Genoa, St Francis de Sales and St Thomas Aquinas.

The Church proclaimed the existence of purgatory at each of the last three ecumenical councils’ Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II as an official dogma of the church that Catholics are required to believe.

As I read more about Purgatory, I can understand better the difference between God’s mercy- He wants all to be saved and so accepts sincere deathbed confessions, and God’s justice that we will face at the moment of death.

 It is also a teaching of the church that those who are in Purgatory can pray for us, but not for themselves. Thus the church established the practice praying for those who have died and of having Masses (the highest form of prayer) said for our loved ones. The church designated a special day, All Souls Day –November 2nd every year, as the official day that the whole church prays for the souls in Purgatory.

This teaching gives me the hope that I can get to heaven, even though I will have to spend time in Purgatory first, but it also carries with it the responsibility to earnestly pray for those who have gone before me.

“Eternal rest grant unto them Oh Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”  

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