Can souls in Purgatory pray for each other

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A soul in Purgatory cannot pray for himself. But what about one for another? I’ve heard people say that they can intercede for us on earth. If they can also pray for each other in Purgatory (Soul A prays for Soul B, B for C and C for A), it’ll be a lot faster for them to finish their purification.
 
We don’t know.

We don’t know if they can pray for us on earth while still in Purgatory. Some saints and theologians say yes, some say no. Because God’s time is not like our time, it is also possible that they pray for us only after they get out of Purgatory and go to Heaven, but the prayers are somehow applied to us in our time. We don’t know how it all works.

Likewise, we don’t know if souls in Purgatory might be allowed to pray for other souls in Purgatory. Some say yes, because it helps the soul in Purgatory become more selfless and loving and thus more worthy of heaven, others say no because it would be similar to souls A and B both in Purgatory praying for themselves if A made a deal with B that they would each pray for the other one.

So, it’s a mystery. There is no clear definitive answer.
 
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savedbychrist said:
A soul in Purgatory cannot pray for himself. But what about one for another? I’ve heard people say that they can intercede for us on earth. If they can also pray for each other in Purgatory (Soul A prays for Soul B, B for C and C for A), it’ll be a lot faster for them to finish their purification.
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Maybe they can.
 
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The catechism would at least appear to imply that souls in Purgatory can pray for us. It states that they can intercede for us which would require a prayer on our behalf so maybe they can do that not only for us but for another soul in Purgatory.
Regarding other souls in Purgatory the Church does not seem to have a position so this remains an open question.

CCC 958 Communion with the dead . “In full consciousness of this communion of the whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the Church in its pilgrim members, from the very earliest days of the Christian religion, has honored with great respect the memory of the dead; and ‘because it is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins’ she offers her suffrages for them.” Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective.
 
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Is this the standard Catholic answers answer? It seems to be common. Are priest all in lockstep agreement and correct formation on such theological questions?
Honestly I wonder where you are all at where the priest is given so much power.
 
TK421, to whom you replied, didn’t mention a priest in his answer.

Are you instead referring to Greenfields suggesting that the person ask their priest?

What is wrong with a suggestion to consult a priest? Priests are generally supposed to be the local experts on Catholic teachings, and many of them do an okay job at that (some are better than others), but in any event there’s no reason for you to object vehemently to the suggestion that people should ask their priest.

We also tend to tell people to talk to their priests when they have some kind of a personal problem that is not well suited to discussion on an Internet forum, or when they are insisting on some weird interpretation of Catholic teaching over and over and won’t listen to other people’s reasonable explanations pointing out their error.

I’m also not sure what you mean by priest has “so much power”. If you had a legal question, you’d ask a lawyer. If you had a medical question, you’d ask a doctor. If you had a theological question, you’d ask your priest. Simple as that.
 
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I can’t imagine asking any one of our parish priests and receiving an answer that is more theologically in depth or carries more authority than my own conscience and my own ability to educate myself with theological or moral questions. There was one time that I sought out a priest from the National Catholic Bioethics center but in that case I needed actual expert and cutting edge information. I think it’s odd that on a site called Catholic answers the answer is often ask your priest. I think this does a disservice to priests who could be inundated with hundreds of thousands of subjects they may not be well versed in, and it also could be unwise to foster a culture of clericalism that gives these men incredible authority and responsibility in people’s lives that they maybe should not have. I’ve sure heard some unwise, ignorant, and dangerous things from priests. I’ve also heard great and holy and wise things.
 
Yes I meant to reply to the poster above the one I replied to.
 
redcatholic said:
. I think it’s odd that on a site called Catholic answers the answer is often ask your priest. I think this does a disservice to priests who could be inundated with hundreds of thousands of subjects they may not be well versed in,
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You do realize that the vast majority of us answering questions here (with the exception of a very small number of priests and deacons) are random laypeople on the Internet, right? We’re not trained apologists, and we don’t work for Catholic Answers. This is a discussion forum and we try hard to give correct answers, and some people on here are subject matter experts in certain areas (for example, if there’s a question about Benedictines or Carmelites, we have persons affiliated with those orders who post). But I’ve seen boatloads of “unwise, ignorant and dangerous” things posted here on a daily basis for years. CA itself makes a point of stating the views expressed on here are individual opinions and not those of CA.
 
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Sure I realize that. But the common “ask a priest” is odd to me. I could ask the three priests at my parish this question and get three different answers. What does one do with that. It makes me wonder why any of us post on threads.
 
If it’s something we can discuss on a thread, then we try to discuss it here.

The “ask a priest” most frequently comes up when it’s not a good topic for the forum for some reason, such as the topic breaks a forum rule, or the OP sounds like they need some spiritual counseling or help from an actual priest.

In this particular case, neither of those things apply, and I don’t think a priest could come up with anything different than people already are posting in the thread, so you’d probably just get the same stuff along with the priest’s personal opinion. But it wouldn’t be wrong to ask him. I have sometimes asked priests questions and gotten good responses. I have also had a priest respond with “I have no idea” and nothing further from him, which wasn’t terribly helpful.
 
I get that but knowing and working with parish priests the last thing the need in this pandemic is to answer theoretical questions that are easily discussed and researched either online or in the CCC. I’ll admit go speak to a priest is more common in the “is this a sin” threads but even then it isn’t he right answer. The right answer if your conscience is deficient I’ll formed or is immature (as all of us have been at one time) is to form your conscience correctly and in line with the Church. But that is a topic for another day. There is just something about “go ask a priest” that doesn’t sit right with me. As a layperson but also in protection of priests who are just struggling to administer sacraments correctly right now.
 
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I know several priests I could call and ask a question today who would happily answer ,two are close relations,brother and cousin.
These are good holy people with a huge amount of knowledge ,and concern for their people,who find the time to answer if the question is pressing.
If the question is pressing ,meaning worrying the one asking.Questions can keep for a lull in other priestly duties…in the meantime here we are.
 
There is no Church teaching about this particular issue. However, St Catherine of Genoa wrote an extensive treatise on Purgatory and nowhere does she mention these souls praying for each other or for us WHILE in Purgatory. She does mention that it is good for us to pray for them, as they cannot help themselves.
 
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