What is purgatory?

According to the  Catechism of the Catholic Church, purgatory is "the final purification of the elect" ( CCC 1031). This is interesting, because this one simple statement tells us so much.

First, we often think of heaven, hell, and purgatory as "places". Heaven and hell are rather "states of being" and purgatory is in fact a  process.

Second, only "the elect" experience purgatory. That means that everyone who goes through purgatory will ultimately be in heaven. It is not some kind of "second chance" but rather a process by which those who are bound for heaven but not yet ready to fully experience God's presence undergo that final preparation.

We also know that purgatory happens after natural death, unlike other methods of purification that are available to us through sacraments or pious acts of penance. The reason that this important is because of what the  Catechism calls "a  double consequence" of sin ( CCC 1472). There is both an "eternal" and a "temporal" component. The eternal part is the loss of eternal life and communion with God, which is repaired completely through God's forgiveness (ordinarily experienced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation). The "temporal" part refers to the effects of sin that takes time (and often a good deal of effort) to heal. A common analogy is if you accidentally break a neighbor's window. Even if your neighbor forgives you, the window is still broken and must be repaired. Fixing the window would be the "temporal" consequence, and God, in his mercy, has established purgatory as a way for us to deal with these temporal consequences even after death.

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