It is a religious concept with a special presence in Catholic and Coptic theology. The idea of it and the prayers for souls to come out of it were not recognized by the professing churches in any way until 600 BC, when Pope Gregory made declarations of a third state, this being a place where the souls that would be purified before entering heaven. This was not approved as Catholic dogma until 1459, at the Council of Florence.
It is not a physical space but is defined as a transitory state where, after death, people who have died without mortal sins but who have committed minor or serious sins in life but without penitential satisfaction on the part of the believer, have to purify themselves to remove those stains and be able to access the beatific vision of God.
Theologians agree that perhaps delay is the most painful pain of the purgatory stage in order to enjoy the glory of God. One of the main differentials of Christianity compared to the different religious options is forgiveness through the process of confession of sins in life, which reduces the time in purgatory.
During the 12th century a legend of purgatory was disclosed, which helped the idea to grow. It was proclaimed that Saint Patrick had discovered the true entrance to it according to legend, Saint Patrick, in order to convince those who doubted, had a very deep hole dug in Ireland, which made several monks descend and when they returned they described the Purgatory and Hell as a lived form was the story told by the monks. In 1153, the Irishman Owen declared that he also descended through the pit into the underworld and related that his lived experiences were successful.
However, despite the fact that the word purgatory does not appear in the holy scriptures, the reality of what it means is expressed in the Bible. In book 2 of the Maccabees of the Old Testament it is shown “that the Hebrew people were believers in an intermediate state, neither heaven nor eternal hell, they narrate that after burying the dead, the soldiers of Judas Maccabees prayed to God so that they would be totally forgiven of their sins ”. Purgatory is said to be the only state that is not eternal.
