We want to be careful about saying something is
de fide, because if it’s
de fide for
anyone then it is
de fide for
everyone.
Here is what I know concerning our required assent of faith to the doctrine of purgatory. Thomas Aquinas taught the following:
“Gregory of Nyssa
De iis qui in fide dormiunt] says: ‘If one who loves and believes in Christ,’ has failed to wash away his sins in this life, ‘he is set free after death by the fire of Purgatory.’ Therefore there remains some kind of cleansing after this life.
“…[T]hose who deny Purgatory speak against the justice of God: for which reason such a statement is erroneous and contrary to faith. Hence Gregory of Nyssa, after the words quoted above, adds: ‘This we preach, holding to the teaching of truth, and this is our belief; this the universal Church holds, by praying for the dead that they may be loosed from sins.’ This cannot be understood except as referring to Purgatory: and whosoever resists the authority of the Church, incurs the note of heresy” (
, Supplement to the Third Part, Appendix II: PurgatorySumma Theologica).
“The power of [the sacrament of the Body of Christ], however, is lessened by those who deny there exists a purgatory after death; for on the souls in purgatory special healing is conferred by this sacrament. For Gregory of Nyssa in his sermon on the dead says: ‘If anyone here in his frail life has been less than able to cleanse himself of sin, after departing hence, through the blazing fire of purgatory the penalty is the more quickly paid, the more and more the ever-faithful Bride offers to her Spouse in memory of his passion gifts and holocausts on behalf of the children she has brought forth for that Spouse by word and sacrament; just as we preach in fidelity to this dogmatic truth, so we believe.’
“Likewise Theodoret, Bishop of Cyr, commenting on that passage of 1 Cor. 3: 11: If any man’s work burn, etc., says thus: ‘The Apostle states that one is saved thus as through a blazing fire cleansing whatever accumulated through carelessness in life’s activity, or at least from the dust of the feet of earthly living. In this fire one remains so long as any earthly and bodily affections are being purged. For such a person holy Mother Church prays and devoutly offers peace offerings, and so through this such a one emerging clean and pure assists immaculate before the most pure eyes of the Lord of hosts’” (
, Part II, Ch. 40Against the Errors of the Greeks).
Pope Leo X condemned the following proposition:
“Purgatory cannot be proved from Sacred Scripture which is in the canon” (condemned as being a “disgrace to the Christian religion” and as giving “injury to orthodox faith” in
Exsurge Domine).
The Council of Trent held to its existence:
“Whereas the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has, from the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers, taught, in sacred councils, and very recently in this ecumenical Synod, that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls there detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar; the holy Synod enjoins on bishops that they diligently endeavour that the sound doctrine concerning Purgatory, transmitted by the holy Fathers and sacred councils, be believed, maintained, taught, and every where proclaimed by the faithful of Christ” (
Council of Trent: Decree Concerning Purgatory).
The Catechism of Trent interprets our being “instructed by the Holy Ghost… from the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers” to mean that the
foundation of the doctrine is located in Scripture alone and its
confirmation is found in tradition:
“Among [the abodes of hell] is also the fire of purgatory, in which the souls of just men are cleansed by a temporary punishment, in order to be admitted into their eternal country, into which nothing defiled entereth. The truth of this doctrine, founded, as holy Councils declare,’ on Scripture, and confirmed by Apostolic tradition, demands exposition from the pastor, all the more diligent and frequent, because we live in times when men endure not sound doctrine” (
ARTICLE V – He Descended into Hell, The Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead).
From the profession of faith of Pope Pius IV:
“I steadfastly hold that a purgatory exists, and that the souls there detained are aided by the prayers of the faithful…
“This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved, (and) which of my own accord I now profess and truly hold, I … do promise, vow, and swear that I will, with the help of God, most faithfully retain and profess the same to the last breath of life as pure and inviolable” (
, taken from Denzinger 998 & 1000Iniunctum Nobis).
The Catechism on professions of faith:
“Through the centuries many professions or symbols of faith have been articulated in response to the needs of the different eras: the creeds of the different apostolic and ancient Churches…; the professions of faith of certain Councils…; or the symbols of certain popes…
“
None of the creeds from the different stages in the Church’s life can be considered superseded or irrelevant. They help us today to attain and deepen the faith of all times by means of the different summaries made of it” (
, 192-193CCC).
