Catholics believe in purgatory because we take seriously the Lord's command: "Strive for peace with all men, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). Properly understood, purgatory has nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins. We call the souls there, in fact, the "holy souls" because their sins have already been forgiven by the merits of Christ's Cross and they are destined for heaven. At the same time, they retain a certain attachment to their former sins from which they must be purified before entering heaven, for "nothing unclean shall enter it" (Rev. 21:27). This purification, too, is a fruit of the Cross.
To understand purgatory, a distinction needs to be drawn between the forgiveness of sins and reparation for sins. One also needs to accept that there are two levels of punishment connected with sin: eternal and temporal. We believe that Christ fully atoned for our sins; and that when we repent of them we receive forgiveness and are freed from the eternal punishment of hell. Yet a temporal debt of sin often remains even after we have been forgiven. This debt consists of the harm our sins have caused in our relationship with God, with others, and within ourselves.
Christ also earned the graces necessary to pay the temporal debt of our sins. However, He mysteriously invites us to participate with Him in the process of satisfying this debt. This is making reparation for our sins. To understand the concept of reparation better and how it differs from forgiveness, we might consider the analogy of the boy who, playing baseball in the yard against his father's wishes, breaks the neighbor's window. Feeling remorse for having disobeyed his father, he goes to him and confesses what he has done. Out of love for him, his father forgives him. The father's forgiveness is unconditional and free. Yet the damage caused by the boy's transgression (the broken window) remains and must be repaired. Desiring to foster virtue and a sense of responsibility in his son, the father sends him to the neighbor to offer an apology and assigns him chores to help pay for the window. In reality, of course, it is not the chores but the father's money that will fix the window. This money represents the Passion and death of Christ. And just as the boy's work would be meaningless apart from it, so the works that we do would be futile apart from the Cross.
We believe that our works are meritorious in God's sight when they are performed out of love, for "love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Pet. 4:8). Even our suffering, when united to Christ's suffering, is transformed and takes on a redemptive quality (cf. 2 Cor. 1:6; Col. 1:24). By cooperating with divine grace, we may make full or partial reparation for our sins through prayer, fasting, charitable giving and other acts of kindness. If this process is incomplete at the time of death it will be completed in purgatory.
The most explicit scriptural reference to purgatory comes from Saint Paul, who in First Corinthians presents two different scenarios by which believers shall enter heaven. In the first scenario, the believer, having carried out perfect works on earth, enters into heaven directly. In the second, the believer, having carried out imperfect works, must first pass through a purifying fire. The Apostle writes:
For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any one builds on the foundation [of Christ] with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation [of Christ] survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire (1 Cor. 3:11-15).
Read more about purgatory in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (see #1030).
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