When good protestants die and are in purgatory, will they understand where they are?

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SGARRETT_69:
speeds things up? how do you know that?
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You would do well to read the diary of St. Faustina (available in paperback) as well as a number of other Church documents and publications. It is our dogma that prayer for the suffering souls in purgatory is 1) a holy obligation, and 2) efficacious for the benefit of the deceased.
 
I’m still kinda new to Catholicism, myself, and haven’t had the opportunity to encounter a great many information sources on Purgatory, save Dante’s Purgatorio. Are these realms anything like what Dante’s imagination portayed them to be (ie the ironic punishments) or is all just amusement reading?
 
The saved in Purgatory will have been judged; they’ll have precise knowledge of where they are and why they are there; they will agree with the judgment against themselves; and they will be happy, while they suffer, because they have won the race and kept the fraith.
 
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church there is such a thing as a “particular judgement” whereby each soul prior to entering either heaven, or hell, or a natural state of happiness–it will know that it is going to any one of the three places; however, in all honesty, I have no idea that the soul will receive this knowledge from anything outside itself, but it makes perfectly fine sense that after a life lived–be it short or long–it knew what choices were being made by the body united to it throughout human life, so, how could it not know at the time of death about its destination?
 
What make you think “Good” Protestants are saved? No heretic or schismatic, however “good” they may be, can attain salvation outside the Catholic Church.
 
I should ask: How is it possible to be so self-assured that all Protestants will enter not straight into Heaven, but into Purgatory? It makes no sense. A Protestant might very well never have committed any mortal sin, performed at least three miracles and fulfilled every requirement expected of a saint, thereby insuring a bypass of Purgatory for the soul of a Protestant, and it might be the soul of an infant, baptised as a Lutheran, dies in a baby-carriage accident and voila! Heaven.
 
I didn’t vote because I think it depends on how much knoweledge of Catholicism and purgatory they had while on earth.
 
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metal1633:
What make you think “Good” Protestants are saved? No heretic or schismatic, however “good” they may be, can attain salvation outside the Catholic Church.
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My Christian Friend,

You need to do some study on “Invincible Ignorance” and “Salvation Outside of the Church”.

Some starting resources:
catholic.com/thisrock/2004/0403sbs.asp
catholic.com/thisrock/1999/9907chap.asp

The teaching you cited is indeed correct, but I believe your understanding of it may not be in line with the understanding of the Church. Perhaps some prayer, reflection, and study would help you to understand how the Church understands the phrase “No salvation outside the Catholic Church”.

Peace be with you,
RyanL
 
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Kristopher:
I should ask: How is it possible to be so self-assured that all Protestants will enter not straight into Heaven, but into Purgatory? It makes no sense. A Protestant might very well never have committed any mortal sin, performed at least three miracles and fulfilled every requirement expected of a saint, thereby insuring a bypass of Purgatory for the soul of a Protestant, and it might be the soul of an infant, baptised as a Lutheran, dies in a baby-carriage accident and voila! Heaven.
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I have trouble believing that an infant would require Purgatory, but I admit limited knowledge on the subject.

The reason I worry about most Protestants going to Purgatory is that they have no concept of it in their religious lives. Therefore they place no importance on Confession (formal confession), penance, prayer for the Holy Souls (those in Purgatory), sacrifice for the Holy Souls, and suffering for the Holy Souls. In fact, I see many Protestants suffer to almost no end at all, focusing all the while on how miserable they are and how to most quickly relieve their suffering. I cannot say with certainty that their suffering is altogether wasted, although I often suspect that it is, in the circumstances that are familiar to me. This is quite troublesome.

Mother Angelica (of EWTN) has said that she believes one of the most important ways to stay out of Purgatory is to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, to which the Protestants strongly protest. And I would find it very hard to believe that a person who has lived more than ten years has never committed a mortal sin. We find in St. Faustina’s Diary that there was a girl of only fourteen who was assigned to Purgatory for a very, very long time. Whether you believe such accounts is up to you, but I do.

Also, from what I’ve read on the subject of Purgatory (in documents given the Church’s official stamp of approval), God greatly desires that we on earth pray earnestly for the suffering souls in Purgatory. By keeping them ever in our thoughts, offering Masses, sufferings, and sacrifices for them, and praying for them regularly, we likely go a long way toward staying out of Purgatory.
It is most unfortunate that Protestants, rejecting the Church’s teaching on Purgatory, miss out entirely on this wonderful opportunity.

I therefore conclude that while we cannot be sure any particular Protestant will go to Purgatory (indeed, we cannot be certain he will go to Heaven!), we can be reasonably confident that many will be there … as will many Catholics. And I firmly believe that whenever ANY person dies, it is our duty as Catholics to pray fervently for his soul, lest he be in that place of suffering.
 
Dear surf(name removed by moderator)ure:

We do need to pray for those souls in Purgatory. I do what I can as often as I can to repeat to myself the holy name of Jesus, which you know has great power. It is said, just repeating the name once releases many souls from Purgatory, which makes us many friends in Heaven.

Most sincerely,

Kristopher
 
I fully understand the teaching. I don’tknow any Protestants who are ignorant of the Church. Do you? That would be an amazing thing. Ignorance is invincible if it a person could not remove it by applying reasonable diligence in determining the answer. And since YOU as a Catholic are available to your Protestant friends to explain the Faith to them (which I am sure you have) then they are neither ignorant nor invincibly so.
 
Protestants are certainly not ignorant of the Catholic teaching of purgatory. They simply reject it because they base their faith on the scriptures alone and there is no direct evidence of souls being in purgatory found in the bible. It is as simple as that. 🙂
 
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piety101:
Protestants are certainly not ignorant of the Catholic teaching of purgatory. They simply reject it…they base their faith on the scriptures alone and there is no direct evidence of souls being in purgatory found in the bible… 🙂
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Dear piety101:

Please read I Cor. 3:10-21 and pay particular attention to the verses about salvation “through fire” in verse fourteen. This is the scriptural basis of Pugatory. You see: There is direct evidence of souls being in Purgatory in The Holy Bible and therefore, not only do Protestants reject this Catholic teaching, but also they reject an element contained within the basis of their own faith, and a direct teaching from Jesus no less!

I Cor. 3:12-15

“…If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire…”

The word “fire” is used to describe what the soul experiences in Purgatory, which I believe might be the Holy Ghost, and the element of the Trinity used to destroy the world by fire in the Last Days before The Kingdom of Heaven descends onto Earth.

Most sincerely,

Kristopher
 
Kristopher
Code: 
               I am well aware of I Cor chapter 3. The fact is, is that the word purgatory is not mentioned in the whole chapter. Secondly, the judgment of God in the New Testament occurs  when Christ returns in glory with his angels and raises the dead. I believe honestly, this is the great judgment Paul was referring to. 

                 Thirdly, if the person's works are burned up IN the fire, Paul is not saying the person will also enter the fire, but the exact opposite, that he will be saved AS THROUGH fire. In other words his works will be consumed, but not the individual.

                  I personally believe in a purging of the soul before entering heaven, as I have mentioned many times on this board. But I do not believe God torments Christians in a literal fire for hundreds or even thousands of years before entering heaven. I know St Augustine held to the literal burning view as did Gregory the great. But not all Catholic theologians believe purgatory is a PLACE of burning torment for the souls of saints. I believe at death when our body dies, our soul will leave the body and pass THROUGH the light. Because the light is pure and divine it will cleanse our soul. Then we shall pass through the tunnel and be with the Lord. The light of the Lord is what cleanses our souls. This is my personal conviction after research and talking with people who have actually had OTB experiences and lived to tell about it. :)
 
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piety101:
Protestants are certainly not ignorant of the Catholic teaching of purgatory. They simply reject it because they base their faith on the scriptures alone and there is no direct evidence of souls being in purgatory found in the bible. It is as simple as that. 🙂
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Perhaps they would do well to read the books of Scripture their founder had removed. 😉
 
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BibleReader:
The saved in Purgatory will have been judged; they’ll have precise knowledge of where they are and why they are there; they will agree with the judgment against themselves; and they will be happy, while they suffer, because they have won the race and kept the fraith.
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Dear Bible Reader:

How will Protestants get into Purgatory? Purgatory is part of Heaven. Heaven is for those who are saved. What makes Protestants saved?

Most sincerely,

Kristopher
 
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Kristopher:
Dear Bible Reader:

How will Protestants get into Purgatory? Purgatory is part of Heaven. Heaven is for those who are saved. What makes Protestants saved?
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This from the Catechism:
838 “The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter.” Those “who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.” With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound “that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord’s Eucharist.”
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Dear Surf(name removed by moderator)ure:

Thank you for the paragraph from the Cat. of the Catholic Church (CCC). You have presented what speaks literally about Protestants being “…in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church…”. What is this communion? They are baptised. Baptism no doubt is critical to salvation. Does Baptism garuantee salvation? Never heard it spoken in such a way. What is the nature of this “communion” as it seems peculiar to this paragraph and makes no sense that it should warrant entrance of Protestants into Purgatory; simply because they are Baptised and believe in Jesus. How does a Catholic go any further than those in schism, Protestants, in Purgatory?

To whatever extent you understand the paragraph from the CCC, which you quoted; I think that you see that I am in need of explanation from you about the matter.

Thank you!

Most sincerely,

Kristopher
 
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