See http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/4549.htm

Then read this response from a netfriend:

Hi Rod!

Thanks for the sermon contribution. Very much appreciated. I noted that it is OK to communicate with you about this message.

Would you please allow me to attempt to clarify a point you make? You said, "If my body reverts to dust, where does my spirit go? Some say it goes to purgatory, a place to which, in Roman Catholic tradition, the spirits of believers go for purification before entering God's presence - like a half-way house between this life and the next. But there is no biblical evidence for such a place, and the apocryphal evidence that does exist itself contradicts Roman Catholic teaching. There is no second chance after you cross the threshold of death from this life into the next".

I am not seeking to argue with you, but rather to ensure you are aware of what the actual belief of the Catholic Church is. To that end I submit to you the following comments and respectfully ask that you would consider them so that when next referring to Catholic beliefs the truth is shared.

Among the things the Catholic Church does not insist on are the ideas that purgatory is a place or that it takes time, nor does it mention the idea of a 'second chance'. I'd like to clarify these points with you.

You would be aware that not only Catholics believe in this final sanctification; the Eastern Orthodox do as well, as do Orthodox Jews. Because the belief of purgatory was held by pre-Christian Jews, post-Christian Jews, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox, nobody thought of denying it until the Protestant Reformation, and only Protestants disagree with it now.

At the same time, I find it also interesting to look at the Catholic position through the eyes of a Protestant. Protestants would say that we continue sinning until the end of this life because of our corrupt nature. However, they would also say that we will not be sinning in heaven because we will no longer have a corrupt nature. It would seem therefore that between death and glory there must be a sanctification of our natures. This sanctification may take no time, but this is no barrier to the Catholic belief of purgatory. The fact remains that between death and glory must come sanctification, and that is purgatory by definition -- the final sanctification or the last rush of sanctification.

You mention that Catholics see Purgatory as a place, a 'half-way' house. This suggests that purgatory is a middle destiny between Heaven and hell that somehow gives a person a 'second chance'. The Catholic Church in no way teaches that notion, but rather it teaches that everyone who goes to purgatory goes to Heaven. "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 sanctification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1030).

The Catholic Church actually teaches that purgatory is the final sanctification, but not that it occurs in any special region in the afterlife. Just as we do not know how time works in the afterlife -- meaning that purgatory may take no time -- we also do not know how space works in the afterlife, especially for unembodied souls -- meaning purgatory may not take place in any special location. The final sanctification may take place in the immediate presence of God (to the extent that God's presence may be described in spatial terms).

If I may, I would like to quote from one catholic theologian (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) who describes purgatory as a fiery, transforming encounter with Christ and his love:

"Purgatory is not, as Tertullian thought, some kind of supra-worldly concentration camp where one is forced to undergo punishments in a more or less arbitrary fashion. Rather it is the inwardly necessary process of transformation in which a person becomes capable of Christ, capable of God [i.e., capable of full unity with Christ and God] and thus capable of unity with the whole communion of saints. Simply to look at people with any degree of realism at all is to grasp the necessity of such a process. It does not replace 'grace' by 'works', but allows the former to achieve its full victory precisely as grace. What actually saves is the full assent of faith. But in most of us, that basic option is buried under a great deal of wood, hay and straw. Only with difficulty can it peer out from behind the latticework of an egoism we are powerless to pull down with our own hands. Man is the recipient of the divine mercy, yet this does not exonerate him from the need to be transformed. Encounter with the Lord is this transformation. It is the fire that burns away our dross and re-forms us to be vessels of eternal joy."

So according to Ratzinger's way of explaining the Catholic belief, as we are drawn out of this life and into direct union with Jesus, his fiery love and holiness burns away all the dross and impurities in our souls and makes us fit for life in the glorious, overwhelming light of God's presence and holiness.

The whole notion of Purgatory takes up only 3 paragraphs in the Catholic Catechism (1030-1032).

I could quote biblical and apocryphal evidence for this belief in the Catholic notion of purgatory if you are interested (you said there wasn't any), but I realise it wasn't the main point of your message and so don't wish to burden you with info if it is not wanted.

Thanks for reading this Rod. I pray that I haven't caused any offence, and that this explanation has assisted in clarifying for you the true Catholic position on this matter. Happy to discuss further with you.

God bless