ARTICLES

Purgatory Means Cleansing

San Diego Catholics Surveyed on Purgatory

BY ROBERT KUMPEL

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that "All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven." This place or state of purification is purgatory.

Karl Keating of Catholic Answers likes to explain purgatory by quoting the Bible. "Revelations 21:27 says that 'Nothing unclean shall enter heaven.' Almost all of those who die in a state of grace still end up dying imperfectly; that is, they have some residual affection for sin, even though they have been forgiven through final repentance and die in a state of sanctifying grace. So if they do die with some residual affection for sin, they are not perfectly clean. They need to be cleaned up and that's what purgatory is. Purgatory means 'cleansing'. To purge is to cleanse. So this is a state in which a holy soul, a soul in a state of grace is spiffed up and made ready to go to heaven. It has been repeatedly defined by the Church, and even though it has not been often mentioned from the pulpit in recent years, it is not an optional belief."

Many of the Church's saints had strong devotions to the relief of the holy souls, particularly Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. Saint Pio was known to recite 60 rosaries a day for the relief of the souls and once said, "We must pray for the Souls in purgatory. It is unbelievable what they can do for our spiritual good, out of gratitude they have towards those on earth who remember to pray for them."

On the second Sunday of Lent, one would think that the theme of repentance and the four last things would be on the minds of most Catholics. At Saint John of the Cross in Lemon Grove, most parishioners are aware of purgatory, but it doesn't seem to be a major intention for their prayers.

Susanna Nuncio, 47, says that she prays for the souls in purgatory every other day. "I don't really think about it very much. I pray for the people that died. I don't worry about going there myself. When I was growing up, they told me that it was in between going to hell and going to heaven, so you're in between. You're not bad, but you're not good. I don't hear the priests talk about it very often, but they should. There's a lot of people that need to learn about it."

Frances Smallengerer, 82, never prays for the souls in purgatory. "It's just never occurred to me. I pray for a lot of other things, but not that. I don't think about it or the possibility of going there -- I hope I do better than that. It's a temporary place and people will move on. I don't hear the priests talk about it too often, but it sounds like they should. Maybe we give ourselves too much credit."

Chris Espinoza, 16, says that he prays for everyone. "I don't really pray for the souls in purgatory very much. It's not really on my mind. Technically, isn't it here, what we're going through right now?"

After purgatory is explained to him, Espinoza says, "I think I live a pretty good life, so I don't think that I would be worthy of it. I mean, I do believe that it exists in some sense, but when I think about it again, I don't really think that God would shun people out like that. I think it's either one way or the other. I mean, there's a possibility that there is a purgatory, but otherwise, I think there's just heaven and hell. The priests don't talk about it too much, just once in a while. It would be good to know about, but I don't think we should concentrate on it too much."

Delia Herrera, 52, prays for the souls in purgatory, but not frequently. "I don't think about it much, because I don't have the time." She laughs. "It's not a good place to go, but there's so many different opinions that you don't really know what to believe. The priests don't talk about it often. We ought to pay more attention to it, but I don't."

Mui Nguyen, 61, prays for the souls in purgatory every day. "I think about it a lot," he explains, "but I don't worry about it. It is the place for us to pay back for what we do wrong--our debt to God." Unlike his fellow parishioners, Nguyen says that the priests talk about purgatory often. "I think we need to be more aware of it, because when we are thinking about that place, we do better. We pray more."

At Saint Martin of Tours Church in La Mesa, a few older parishioners are enjoying coffee in the parish hall after Mass. One older woman, who asked not to be identified, said, "I just don't understand purgatory. I grew up Lutheran and became Catholic and purgatory just goes right over my head."

For some of the others, it appears that the nearness of life's end heightens the awareness of purgatory.

Joe McGrievy, 85, is emphatic about his devotion to the holy souls. "I pray for them every day. Every day. I absolutely think about it. I'm going to do my time there -- I hope a short time -- and get in to heaven -- I hope! I used to think about plenary indulgences, but you don't hear too much about indulgences of any sort any more in the Catholic Church. I believe purgatory is a place where you suffer a minimum amount of pain for the sins that you've committed. The priests don't talk about it enough. We need to pay more attention to it. It's the stop-off to heaven. You got two places to go, heaven or hell, and if you're in purgatory, you know you're going to heaven."

Margaret Kuchon, 75, prays for souls in purgatory. "Of course I do. Every single day. I think of my loved ones who might be there, but there's a whole world that might be there. It's one of our beliefs that we should pray for our deceased friends and relatives and in a general way too for anyone else who may need our prayers. I don't meditate on whether I'll go there or not. I just try to live a good life and hope the dear Lord will bless me. The priests don't talk about it too much -- not directly, but at least once a month they will encourage us to remember the deceased. Especially when you go to a funeral. At my age, I go to funerals quite often. The younger generation doesn't seem as concerned as we are. But as senior citizens, we're on our downhill slide. So we think about it more often."

At Holy Cross Mausoleum, the crowd is noticeably younger as large families, teenagers and young adults pack the sanctuary for the Tridentine Latin Mass.

Clairemont High student Weulfran Kephart, 16, lives in Saint Mary Magdalene parish though he prefers to attend Mass at Holy Cross. "I pray for the souls in purgatory, but not that often. I think about it a lot, but not all the time. It's kind of like a waiting point between hell and heaven. The priest here doesn't talk about it too often, maybe every couple weeks. They could spend more time on it, but there's so much to teach people and pray about."

Brian Sullivan, 30, lives on campus at the University of San Diego, where he is studying math and chemistry. "I pray for the souls in purgatory, probably about once a week," he says. "It occupies my mind more often. When I think about myself, I don't see any way around it. It's unlikely that I'm going to go straight to heaven. I keep trying, but I'm not perfect. It's basically like hell, but you get to see God in the end. That's the one main difference. I'll hear a priest talk about purgatory maybe once a month. I'd like to know more about it, but I don't know how much you can know about something you haven't experienced."

Lydia Sanchez, 21, lives in Santa Sophia parish, but only attends Mass at the mausoleum. "I pray for the souls in purgatory. Not too often," she explains, "but I do. I think about it a lot, every day. It's one of the possibilities of where I might end up after I die. It's a cleansing place for everyone. Everyone has sins, so in order to get into heaven you still need to be cleansed. Here, the priests talk about purgatory a lot, but in the parishes, they hardly talk about it at all. We definitely need to pay more attention to it. I think most people should know more about it."

At Christ the King Parish, a few people are sitting in the shade, waiting for the next Mass. One of them, Fernando Flores, 63, says he prays for the souls in purgatory. "I do it about once a week. I think about it, though I'm not sure what I believe about it. The priests don't talk about it very often. They need to talk about it more often. The people need to know."

Paul Durbin, 62, says, "I don't pray for the souls in purgatory. I don't think about it. I believe it's a place in existence, but I don't believe it's a place you go to after you die. It's a time that you atone for your sins ... not atone ... you can't atone for your sins, because Christ atoned for our sins. Basically, it's a place where you're made to suffer. In other words, when you're suffering here, you're in purgatory. Hopefully, the priests never talk about it. Purgatory is not a place, it's a condition. I don't think anybody should pay attention to purgatory. There's just heaven and hell. There's no limbo, there's no purgatory, that's just something that we invented back in the Middle Ages. And just so you don't get the wrong idea, I'm a fifth generation Catholic."

A few parishioners linger in the parish hall beneath Saint Vincent de Paul Church in Mission Hills. Among them, Allen Hardtarfer, 62, says that he prays for the souls in purgatory. "I don't do it very often, but I do. I teach some confirmation classes, and the subject comes up. I think about it then, when I'm trying to convince 14-year-olds what it's about. It's something I don't quite understand. It seems to me that the emphasis of the Church has changed and purgatory doesn't seem to be emphasized as much. The concept, as I study the theology behind it, seems like a sound one -- that there's a need for purification of venial sins before you get to heaven. That makes sense to me. I've heard it mentioned in the homilies maybe once or twice a year. I think Catholics should discuss it more, but Catholics should discuss more about their faith in all areas."

Jim Torcellini, 83, has found more interest in purgatory since the death of his wife. "I pray for the souls in purgatory more frequently since her passing a year and a half ago," he explains. "Before that, I seldom prayed for them. I don't think about purgatory a lot, but I think it's another way of redeeming venial sins, to be perfect when you go into heaven. The priests rarely talk about it. I doubt it would be worth talking about more, because people won't understand it. It requires a lot of faith. The younger generation probably would have difficulty understanding it."

John Matschinegg, 80, prays for the souls in purgatory every day. "I think about purgatory very much. I have a little prayer book at home for the poor souls in purgatory and it says that the more I pray for the poor souls in purgatory, the more they will pray for me when I die, and I'm going to need a lot of help. From the way I was brought up, purgatory was pre-hell. In other words, it was a bit of the fire, but not all of the fire. The priests don't talk about it too much anymore. I think Catholics should know about it. I wish they had those little prayer books like I have. My wife will tell you, mine is worn out! I don't know how many years I've had it, but there isn't a morning that I get up that I don't take that prayer book and say those prayers."

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