What do Catholics believe about Purgatory?

Loren, a reader, asked some honest questions about Catholic beliefs. The last question, of this batch, is on Purgatory.

Q: I can’t find anything about purgatory in the Bible. Jesus said in the Bible, that He who hears His word and believes in Him who sent Him, has everlasting life, and will not be judged, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24). The Bible also says God does not remember sins that have been forgiven (Hebrews 10:17). The Bible also says that once Christians die they will be present with God (2 Corinthians 5:8-9), there is no place in between.

A: Purgatory is not a place in between, so to speak. It is more accurately described as a temporary state. Catholics believe that all who go through Purgatory are destined for Heaven. The Church’s teachings do not specify how long the period of purgation (purification by fire as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:14-15) is. So even though a person who believes the Word of God and passes from death to life, still undergoes purgation. To be more precise, Purgatory is the process by which a person passes from death to life.

When we die, we don’t instantly become perfect. We stand before God and are judged based on our earthly lives. Those who are found worthy will go to Heaven. But even though we are to go to Heaven, nothing unclean may enter Heaven, so we go through a process of purification that prepares us for Heaven.

Catholics believe that there are two judgements that take place when we die. When we die, we undergo what is called the particular (or individual) judgement. Scripture says that “it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgement” (Hebrews 9:27). We are judged instantly and receive our reward, for good or ill. We know at once what our final destiny will be.

At the end of time, when Jesus returns, there will come the general (or final) judgement to which the Bible refers to, for example, in Matthew 25:31-32. It is at this general judgement that all our sins will be publicly revealed (Luke 12:2-5).

If you’re looking for the word ‘Purgatory’ in Scripture, you will probably not find it, just as you will not find the words ‘Trinity’ or ‘Incarnation’. This does not mean that such teachings were not in existence. It simply means that the terms had not yet been invented for such teachings.

Christ refers to the sinner who “will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32). This suggests to us that one can be freed after death of the consequences of one’s sins.

Similarly, Paul tells us that, when we are judged, each man’s work will be tried. What happens if a good man’s work fails the test? “He will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Corinthians 3:15). This loss cannot be referring to Hell, since no one in Hell is saved. It cannot be referring to Heaven, because there is no suffering there. Only the Catholic teaching of Purgatory can explain this passage.

There is also the Bible’s approval of prayers for the dead: “In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the dead to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin” (2 Macc. 12:43–45).

Those that are in Heaven don’t need prayers, and no one can help those in Hell. That means there must be a third condition, at least temporarily. In fact, this verse so clearly illustrates the existence of Purgatory that, at the time of the Protestant Reformation, Protestants removed the books of the Maccabees from their Bibles in order to avoid accepting this doctrine. It was understandable, since Protestants then were protesting against the abuses of the Catholic Church concerning indulgences, which has become another commonly misunderstood teaching today.

Prayers for the dead and the consequent teaching of Purgatory has always been part of Judaism and Christianity since before the time of Christ. We see in the book of the Maccabees that it was practised by the Jews of that time. Even today, Orthodox Jews recite a prayer called the “Mourner’s Kaddish” for 11 months after the death of a loved one, so that the loved one may be purified.

The doctrine of Purgatory is not something that was added by the Catholic Church, but something that was removed from the original teaching by Protestant churches - a teaching that had always been believed by Jews and Christians (until the 16th century).

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