weight, where in the prayers of the priest poured forth to the Lord God at
His altar the commendation of the dead has its place.”
Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566)
Pt. IV, Ch. VI: Prayers for the dead, that they may be liberated from
the fire of purgatory, are derived from Apostolic teaching...
(The Eucharist)...its benefits extend not only to the celebrant and
communicant, but to all the faithful, whether living with us on earth, or
already numbered with those who are dead in the Lord, but whose sins have
not yet been fully expiated. For, according to the most authentic Apostolic
tradition, it is not less available when offered for them, than when offered
for the sins of the living, their punishments, satisfactions, calamities and
difficulties of every sort.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992)
No. 1030:
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.
No. 1031:
The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final
purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of
the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory
especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the
Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing
fire:
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final
Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever
utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in
this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand
that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in
the age to come (St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4, 39).
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