Yes, that’s where we started, I cited CCC 1031 "The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect " and told him that it was God doing the purging of impurity. He then came back and said to look at CCC 1475, that “those who are expiating their own sins in purgatory” and that is the Catholic teaching, that they, not God, does it.
Yep, that makes sense – he’s picking up on the ‘reflexive’ in that sentence, and misapplying it. The mention of ‘their own’ in that sentence identifies that it is their own sins and
only their own sins – that is, no one else’s – that the souls in Purgatory are being cleansed of. However, as many have stated here, it’s not the case that they being cleansed by their own power.
The context of this quote from
Indulgentiarum doctrina is a discussion of the ‘treasury of the Church’ and the relationships in the communion of the saints. In that context, we see that the various groups aid each other:
- the saints in heaven pray
- the prayers of the saints aid in God’s expiation of the sins of those on earth and those in Purgatory
- those on earth pray and do good works
- these prayers and acts aid in God’s expiation of their own sins (there’s that phrase, again!
) and the sins of those suffering in Purgatory
- those in Purgatory are suffering
- their suffering aids in God’s expiation of their own sins (only)
So, the force of the phrase “their own sins” speaks not to the agency of the souls in Purgatory, but rather, to the fact that it is their own sins only (and not those of others) that are being cleansed.
There are a couple of things, though, that might need further explanation for your friend:
First off, the prayers and good works that are being offered do not have power on their own merit. Rather, it is the merit of Christ’s suffering that is powerful and efficacious for us. Our prayers rely on Christ’s merit for their ‘effectiveness’ and our good works proceed only from our cooperation with Christ’s grace (not our own ability to do good works). Therefore, anything that we do, simply asks Christ to apply His own merit for the good of humans.
Second, the reference to ‘sins’ that are being expiated probably requires some explanation. Your friend might believe that his sins – past, present, and future – have all been wiped clean by Christ’s finished sacrifice on the Cross, and therefore, no sin requires additional forgiveness. The Church teaches (following the words of Jesus in John 20) that it is necessary to be forgiven of the sins one commits.
However, to your friend’s ears, this discussion of Purgatory might sound like we’re saying that sins have to be
re-forgiven in Purgatory. That’s not the case at all. In Purgatory, sins that have been forgiven remain forgiven – what is expiated is the effects of those sins. In other words, by sinning here on earth, we hurt others and predispose ourselves to sin more. Our sins might be forgiven, but the damage remains. (It’s the old “broken window” example that CCD teachers like to use all the time. You can be forgiven by your neighbor for breaking his window, but even after the forgiveness, there’s still a broken window to repair!) So, Purgatory cleanses us of these imperfections that we have created in ourselves through our own sins.
Purgatory also expiates the venial sins of the person who was not forgiven of these sins while he was alive. (Not mortal, mind you – just venial.)
Hope this helps!
