In Catholic theology, Purgatory is a place of cleansing after the particular judgment. One of the first documents to mention purgatorium was a letter from the Benedictine, Nicholas of Saint Albans to Cistercian, Peter of Celle in 1176 (Haggh, 1997).
After death, persons who had repented of their sins but had not expiated them are purged before entering heaven. Everyone who enters Purgatory will eventually reach heaven, therefore it is not some lesser form of hell. Prayers for the dead and indulgences can shorten one's own or loved one's stays in Purgatory: "We believe that alms, sacrifice, and other benefits can be of help to the dead" (Denziger §427, 1208). In Catholic theology, some sins, i.e. those against the Holy Spirit, may not be forgiven "neither in this life nor in the future" (Mt12:32); whereas "fire will test the work of each one [i.e. individual person], of what kind it [the work] is" (1 Cor3:13), so that a kind of after-death processing may be assumed to exist, assuming that one accepts the Scriptures as part of their religious faith. The dogma of Purgatory was clarified by the Catholic Church in 1254 (see Denziger §456: "[W]e, since they say a place of purgation of this kind has not been indicated to them with a certain and proper name by their teachers, we indeed, calling it purgatory according to the traditions and authority of the Holy Fathers, wish that in the future it be called by that name..."). Before that time the essential concept was referred to by Clement of Alexandria (202)¹, Tertullian (ca. 210), Cyprian of Carthage (253), Lactantius (307), Cyril of Jerusalem (350), Gregory of Nyssa (382), St. John Chrysostom (392), and St. Augustine (411),² among others. Christian doctrine is normally clarified in this fashion, with concepts having clear roots being given explicit names by dogmatic decree at a later time (see papal infallibility for another example). Various additional Scripture verses cited in support of a period of purgation after death and/or efficacy of prayers for the dead include Dan12:10; Zech13:9; Mal3:2-3; 2 Mac12:42-45; Mt5:26; Lk12:47-48; Lk 12:58-59; 1 Cor 3:13-15; Apoc21:27; and others.
Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox both consider it to be a fact of great beauty that God provides a means of purification after death, considering it "a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins" (2 Mac12:39-46). The Eastern Orthodox church, separate from the Roman Church since well before 1254 (see East-West Schism), has no explicit recognition of the term "Purgatory". Yet belief that the dead may be loosed from sins, defined with differing levels of explicitness as mentioned, plays a very large part in the spiritual life of devout Catholics and Orthodox, as numerous prayers and liturgical actions, many dating from the earliest Christian times, assume that purification after death is possible for those who do not die in a state of mortal sin, whom the Eastern Orthodox might refer to as "the righteous dead."[1] The traditional Roman Catholic Grace after meals includes a reference to the alleviation sought: "...and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace, Amen." In addition to the everyday and liturgical spiritual life of the Catholic, there exist Purgatorial societies³ which regularly offer prayer, especially the Mass, for the deceased. None of these ceremonies or doctrines, however, are intended to become a license for sin; a Catholic would consider that to be "tempting God" (cf. Lk4:12).
Protestant churches largely reject explicit belief in Purgatory. Protestants do not recognise 2 Maccabees as canonical, considering it to be Apocrypha rather than Deuterocanonical, and do not consider that the other Scripture verses mentioned admit of a belief in Purgatory. Many Protestants claim that belief in Purgatory has been used, by unscrupulous priests if not by the Catholic Church itself, to terrify parishioners into donating money to fund Church projects, on the pretext that they might effectively buy their loved ones out of the torment of Purgatory. Many Catholics agree that the belief has occasionally been used to fleece the flock, but challenge the notion that the dogma is rooted in avarice.
Some Eastern Orthodox sources refer to "innovations proclaimed in the West," including "Purgatory", [1] and believe in a "condition of waiting"[1] as a description of the period after death for those not borne directly to heaven. Some have reasoned that they and the Roman Catholics have very similar beliefs [1].
