Why do Catholics pray to the dead?

[clem456]

The point is not to know where they are, it is that without Purgatory, it doesn’t matter where they are: in both cases, they do not need our prayers.

Which means what for us in a practical sense?
I think it’s a non starter for us to begin any approach with “they do not need…”, especially when we cannot begin to know.

 

[MarcoPG]

Which means what for us in a practical sense?
I think it’s a non starter for us to begin any approach with “they do not need…”, especially when we cannot begin to know.

The necessity of Purgatory, if one prays for the deads. If a person is in heven, he/she already enjoys the beatific vision and no prayer can take them “higher” or make them become better.
If the person is in hell, no prayer will deliver them.

This we know, right? And that is all we need to know.