Why Purgatory Is Necessary – Part 1

Catholics and non-Catholics alike commonly ask if Purgatory exists and, if so, if it is even necessary. Often, they discuss it without knowing what Purgatory is. So, before jumping into the necessity of Purgatory, we should understand precisely what it is.

The Catholic Encyclopedia defines Purgatory as “a place or condition of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in God’s grace, are not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions.”

other words, God has forgiven them, but they have not received justice for their sins, and/or they have not perfectly detached themselves from their sins. For more about perfect detachment from sin in this life, please click here.

Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1472 adds,

To understand this doctrine [of Purgatory] and practice of the Church, it is necessary to understand that sin has a double consequence. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the ‘eternal punishment’ of sin. On the other hand, every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory.

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To read about sin, guilt, forgiveness, and punishment, please click here. This article will provide a strong foundation for understanding why God punishes forgiven and, therefore, justified sinners.

Justice and Purgatory​

Continued below.

Heart and Soul​

Good and evil desires come from the soul. Jesus says, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander” (Mt 15:18-19).

And we know from St. Paul that the heart of which Jesus speaks is not the muscle responsible for pumping blood throughout our bodies, and it is not “the flesh.” Rather, it is a place within deepest recesses of the human person, the soul.

In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul writes, “For he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal” (Rom 2:27-28).

Additionally, Scripture attributes evil desires to the soul just as Jesus attributes them to the heart. Proverbs 21:10 states, “The soul of the wicked desires evil, and Sirach 18:30 adds, “If you allow your soul to take pleasure in base desire….” Micah 7:3 reiterates this, saying, “…the [materially] great man utters the evil desire of his soul.” So, evil desires come from deep within the soul, “the heart.”

Furthermore, common sense tells us that a soul can desire spiritual goods. For example, the soul can desire grace, humility, faith, hope, love, magnanimity, an increase in these, and God, who is infinite Goodness (see 1 Corinthians 12:31 and Philippians 4:8-9).

Conversely, a soul can desire spiritual evils like putting oneself above God or others (i.e., pride), being spiritually lazy (sloth), wishing others did not have the aforementioned spiritual goods (envy), increasing in these evils, and rejecting the above-mentioned goods.

Continued below.