Purgatory is the final purification of souls before entering Heaven. Who goes to purgatory and for what reasons?
Purgatory is a temporary purification process that only some people go through after their earthly life, unlike heaven and hell.
On the one hand, the Church teaches that hell is reserved for those people who die in mortal sin, without being repentant and without embracing God’s mercy. It is a state of eternal suffering and of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and with the rest of the Church.
On the contrary, Heaven is the final destination of those souls who die in a state of grace, in friendship with God, and are perfectly purified.
These souls will eternally enjoy the presence of God in the company of the saints of all centuries, including the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Who goes to Purgatory?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in its numeral 1030, teaches that those souls who “die in the grace and friendship of God, but imperfectly purified” go to purgatory.
In numeral 1031, the Catechism indicates that although the Church often speaks of purgatory as “purifying fire”, it also teaches that the suffering of this process “is completely different from the punishment of the damned”.
To alleviate the suffering of the souls in purgatory and reduce the time of this process, the Church invites all its children to make prayers and sacrifices (indulgences) in their favor.