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Masihi
Guest
What do Eastern Catholics believe about purgatory and if I was to be Eastern Catholic would I have to accept purgatory as dogma?
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thistle
Guest
ALL Catholics must believe in Purgatory.
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PaulfromIowa
Guest
Eastern Catholics would not use the Latin term purgatory, but rather a term like final purification.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church on purgatory:
The Catechism of the Catholic Church on purgatory:
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Vico
Guest
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Masihi
Guest
How is it defined in detail within the Eastern tradition of the Catholic Church?
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ziapueblo
Guest
The Eastern Churches both Orthodox and Catholic believe in purification but what we reject is the need to make expiation for sin after death(purgatory). It can be summed up like this.
There are two levels of theology: theologia prima (which the Greeks call theologia); and theologia secunda (which the Greeks call theoria). The former is the foundational belief of the Church, as embedded in its rule of prayer, which is to say, its liturgical texts, in keeping with the maxim “lex orandi, Lex credendi”.
Father Taft writes of theologia prima:
“Theologia prima, or first-level theology, is the faith expressed in the liturgical life of the Church antecedent to speculative questioning of its theoretical implications, prior to its systematization in the dogmatic propositions of theologia secunda or systematic reflection on the lived mystery of the Church. Liturgical language, the language of theologia prima, is typological, metaphorical, more redolent of Bible and prayer than of school and thesis, more patristic than scholastic, more impressionistic than systematic, more suggestive than probative. In a word, it is symbolic and evocative, not philosophical and ontological.”
And with regard to the emergence of theologia secunda:
“Now although it is perfectly obvious, indeed necessary, that doctrine will acquire theological refinements, especially in the heat of dogmatic controversy, it should be equally obvious that such refinements cannot be read back into texts composed long before the problems arose which led to those precisions. To pounce upon ancient anaphoral texts and exploit them tendentiously in today’s theological controversies is an anachronistic procedure devoid of any legitimacy.”
With regard to the matter of the necessity purification of the soul, and the efficacy of prayer for the dead, the Eastern Churches have chosen NOT to speak dogmatically at the level of theologia secunda, but are content to accept the theologia prima found in our liturgical texts for the funeral and memorial rites. Hence, we believe that (a) the souls of the departed require purification before entering into the Kingdom of God; and (b) that prayers for the dead are efficacious to that effect. Nothing more is, or should be required, because this is the universal Tradition of the undivided Church.
Purgatory represents the theologia secunda of the Western Church, and it is their prerogative to develop doctrine as they see fit. What they cannot do is declare unilaterally that their doctrine, and especially their mode of theological expression, is incumbent upon and normative for all. As Eastern Catholics, we respect the doctrines of the Latin Church as long as they are compatible with ours on the level of the theologia prima, but we also insist on the right to our own modes of theological expression, and to develop our own theologia secunda within our own Tradition.
ZP
There are two levels of theology: theologia prima (which the Greeks call theologia); and theologia secunda (which the Greeks call theoria). The former is the foundational belief of the Church, as embedded in its rule of prayer, which is to say, its liturgical texts, in keeping with the maxim “lex orandi, Lex credendi”.
Father Taft writes of theologia prima:
“Theologia prima, or first-level theology, is the faith expressed in the liturgical life of the Church antecedent to speculative questioning of its theoretical implications, prior to its systematization in the dogmatic propositions of theologia secunda or systematic reflection on the lived mystery of the Church. Liturgical language, the language of theologia prima, is typological, metaphorical, more redolent of Bible and prayer than of school and thesis, more patristic than scholastic, more impressionistic than systematic, more suggestive than probative. In a word, it is symbolic and evocative, not philosophical and ontological.”
And with regard to the emergence of theologia secunda:
“Now although it is perfectly obvious, indeed necessary, that doctrine will acquire theological refinements, especially in the heat of dogmatic controversy, it should be equally obvious that such refinements cannot be read back into texts composed long before the problems arose which led to those precisions. To pounce upon ancient anaphoral texts and exploit them tendentiously in today’s theological controversies is an anachronistic procedure devoid of any legitimacy.”
With regard to the matter of the necessity purification of the soul, and the efficacy of prayer for the dead, the Eastern Churches have chosen NOT to speak dogmatically at the level of theologia secunda, but are content to accept the theologia prima found in our liturgical texts for the funeral and memorial rites. Hence, we believe that (a) the souls of the departed require purification before entering into the Kingdom of God; and (b) that prayers for the dead are efficacious to that effect. Nothing more is, or should be required, because this is the universal Tradition of the undivided Church.
Purgatory represents the theologia secunda of the Western Church, and it is their prerogative to develop doctrine as they see fit. What they cannot do is declare unilaterally that their doctrine, and especially their mode of theological expression, is incumbent upon and normative for all. As Eastern Catholics, we respect the doctrines of the Latin Church as long as they are compatible with ours on the level of the theologia prima, but we also insist on the right to our own modes of theological expression, and to develop our own theologia secunda within our own Tradition.
ZP
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PaulfromIowa
Guest
It is not defined in much detail at all, even in the West, beyond what I posted from the Catechism.
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Masihi
Guest
Do the Saints also go through purgatory or purification?
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PaulfromIowa
Guest
I believe that the Church teaches that some may go straight to Heaven. Perhaps those who are very holy or who have suffered much in this life.
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thistle
Guest
Everyone in Heaven is a saint. Some go directly while some probably don’t.
If you die immediately after being baptised you would go straight to Heaven.
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semper_catholicus
Guest
Yes. All Catholics, Eastern or Western must believe in Purgatory, becuase it is a dogma of the faith.
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Masihi
Guest
So not all people go through purification?
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Spyridon
Guest
You’d have to accept that the Latin form of purgatory is orthodox, and you’d have to also accept the Eastern view of purgatory as just being a sort of after life purification on the way to glorification.
In other words, you cannot be Eastern Catholic and hold that the Latin doctrine of purgatory is heterodox. That would be a schismatic belief.
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ziapueblo
Guest
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Angel_Gabriel
Guest
Doesn’t the Union of Brest state that we are not to debate purgatory? That’s what I adhere to 
I think the bottom line is this… Pray for the dead and entrust them to God’s mercy.
I think the bottom line is this… Pray for the dead and entrust them to God’s mercy.
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Masihi
Guest
What is exactly the Eastern view of purification?
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