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Among those throughout the history of the Church who have written and spoken about purgatory, many have emphasized the sorrows or pains. They have done so rightly, since the sufferings of purgatory are real.However, I think it’s safe to say some have over-emphasized the pains of purgatory, such that many have lost sight of its joys. It’s important that we find a happy medium. St. Francis de Sales taught, “If purgatory is a species of hell as regards suffering, it is a species of paradise …

Purgatory is also found among many non-Catholic Christians. In fact, Christians who reject the doctrine of purgatory, in its consciously articulated form or at least the concepts that undergird it, are of the minority position. As we’ll argue below, such a widespread belief among Christians outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church gives reason to think purgatory is for real and is so intertwined with the sources of Christian revelation that Christians can’t get away from it. Be …