Purgatory

[lukefan]

I need clarification for a debate I’m having with a fellow Catholic.

The topic is purgatory. I say that purgatory is a place for purification and you will NOT go to hell but eventually go to heaven per Church teachings. He disagrees.

He says that you stay in purgatory until the second coming/final judgment. All the souls, except for the saints are in purgatory until this time.

I know these answers are on this website but I thought it would be quicker to go to the Forums:thumbsup:

 

[AquinaSavio]

I need clarification for a debate I’m having with a fellow Catholic.

The topic is purgatory. I say that purgatory is a place for purification and you will NOT go to hell but eventually go to heaven per Church teachings. He disagrees.

He says that you stay in purgatory until the second coming/final judgment. All the souls, except for the saints are in purgatory until this time.

I know these answers are on this website but I thought it would be quicker to go to the Forums:thumbsup:

This debate should be rather easy for you to win, as you have the Catechism of the Catholic Church on your side. Here is what it says:

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.604 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:605

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.606

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."607 From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.608 The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.609

SOURCE.

 

[Scottgun]

I need clarification for a debate I’m having with a fellow Catholic.

The topic is purgatory. I say that purgatory is a place for purification and you will NOT go to hell but eventually go to heaven per Church teachings. He disagrees.

He says that you stay in purgatory until the second coming/final judgment. All the souls, except for the saints are in purgatory until this time.

I know these answers are on this website but I thought it would be quicker to go to the Forums:thumbsup:

His view would completely undermine the application of indulgences for souls in purgatory. He is simply wrong in this regard.

 

[Sam88]

Sounds like your friend may have been confused by discussion regarding OT saints, who were not in heaven prior to the resurrection, but in another state - sometimes confusingly called “hell” but obviously not the hell to which sinners are condemned. This is better referred to as “sheol”, keeping in mind that we are not really talking about a physical location but just a label to describe their situation or state. They were waiting with confident hope for the gates of heaven to be opened by the redeemer - but that has already happened.

 

[jprioli]

I need clarification for a debate I’m having with a fellow Catholic.

The topic is purgatory. I say that purgatory is a place for purification and you will NOT go to hell but eventually go to heaven per Church teachings. He disagrees.

He says that you stay in purgatory until the second coming/final judgment. All the souls, except for the saints are in purgatory until this time.

I know these answers are on this website but I thought it would be quicker to go to the Forums:thumbsup:

Make sure that you are not talking at cross purposes…

Some fundamentals:

(1) No one goes to Purgatory unless that person will eventually wind up in heaven. The damned do not spend time in Purgatory.

(2) We don’t know how time and sequentiality are related in Purgatory. We don’t know if there is time, properly speaking, or merely sequence, or some form of time that is related to earthly time, but different in some way(s), or some form of time that is utterly unrelated to earthly time.

Thus, it is compatible with Catholic doctrine to hold that those who are in Purgatory will remain in Purgatory until the Parousia. They are helped by our prayers, yes, but not “sprung early” (so-to-speak). The way that our prayers help them is known far better to God than to us.

But it is also compatible with Catholic doctrine to hold that the purging experience is done in a “twinkling” – and again, that the prayers for the dead apply to that purging.

Yet it is also compatible with Catholic doctrine to hold that the stay in Purgatory may be ended “sooner” because of our prayers than it would have had we not prayed.

It is also unclear whether those who are canonized Saints spent any “time” in Purgatory. And unclear means unclear. I am not stumping for either position.

Pax,
Joe Prioli