Catholic Faith Refresher Course

Catholic Teaching on Purgatory

The question for some people is simply whether or not Purgatory really does or does not exist.

The word Purgatory comes from the Latin word, purgare, which means: to cleanse. Purgatory is the state or place of temporary punishment for each soul which died in the state of grace but which, at the time of death, was not totally free from venial sins or which had not yet fully paid for the temporal punishment due to sin, sometimes called satisfaction due for sin.

Purgatory is not a state of positive growth in goodness and in merit. It is the state of purification effected by suffering.

The Council of Florence and the Council of Trent teach:

(1) that there is a Purgatory;

(2) that the souls suffering there can be helped by the prayers of the faithful, especially by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

"Whereas the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has, from the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers [of the Catholic Church], taught, in sacred councils, and very recently in this Ecumenical Synod, that there is a Purgatory, and that the souls there detained are helped by the suffrages of the Faithful, but principally by the acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar [i.e., the Mass]..." (Trent, Decree Concerning Purgatory, Session 25, Wednesday, December 4, 1563).