Published by Purgatory is actually another misunderstood Catholic doctrine. It’s not considered a spiritual jail or hell with parole. And Catholics don’t teach that everyone goes to purgatory. The Church actually believes that many people are purified or purged, therefore the term purgatory, in this life. The Church believes that many innocent people who suffer from disease, poverty, or persecution are living their purgatory now, and whey they die, they go straight to heaven. The same goes for people who live an exceptionally good and holy life, no need for purgatory.
But the Church also believes that almost everyone else, although not bad enough to go to hell, still aren’t good enough to good straight to heaven and there is need for introspection and purification.
The real doctrine consists of the conviction that God’s mercy and justice must be kept intact and upheld. God’s divine mercy refers to the fact that he forgives any sin as long as the sinner is really repentant and sorry. God’s justice though is that good is rewarded and
evil is punished. Catholics believe that purgatory evens the score and fulfills justice while accommodating mercy. They believe that it isn’t a place but a spiritual state of the soul in which it’s purified before entering into heaven. The souls in purgatory are definitely and absolutely going to heaven, just not right away.
Purgatory is more than the temporal punishment for sin. It’s also the cleansing from the attachment to sing. It purifies the soul before the soul’s grand entrance into heaven.
This is an interesting concept. I’ll have to consider it…