The Often-Misunderstood Doctrine

     Like devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, belief in Purgatory is something that sets Catholics (and Orthodox) apart from Evangelical Protestants. All the Reformers rejected belief in purgatory, and to this day purgatory is a sticking point between Protestants and Catholics. Many Catholics are confused on the issue as well; some Catholics believe that purgatory is no longer a teaching of the Church – others believe purgatory is a “third place” for people too good for hell but too bad for heaven. Both of these are erroneous concepts.

The Word “Purgatory”

     The word “purgatory” is not found in the Scriptures but was developed to explain the process of purification that a righteous soul undergoes after death but before entering heaven. The word comes from the Latin, purgare which means “to make clean or to purify.” The suffix –ory (Latin: -orium) indicates a physical place (like the similar words Dormitory and Laboratory denote physical places), but it is easier to conceive of purgatory as a process rather than as a location. The Church Fathers do not always use the word purgatory to describe the process, but the concept is certainly there. By the time of St. Bernard (c. 1130) the term purgatory had taken on the specific, theological meaning that it has today.