Why do Catholics believe in purgatory and praying for the dead?
The New Testament and early Christian writings offer some evidence for purgatory. In 2 Timothy 1:18, St. Paul prays for Onesiphorus, who has died. The earliest mention of prayers for the dead in public Christian worship is by the writer Tertullian in 211 A.D. The question of purgatory and praying for the dead was a major issue between Catholics and Protestants in the 16th century. The Council of Trent s 1563 decree about purgatory reaffirmed its existence and the usefulness of prayers for the deceased, yet it cautioned against a certain kind of curiosity or superstition… about it. The Roman Catholic teaching on purgatory reflects its understanding of the communion of saints. We are connected to the saints in heaven, the saints-in-waiting in purgatory and other believers here on earth. Prayers for the deceased are not a means of buying their way out of purgatory. The Catholic Church s teaching about purgatory (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1030-32) says that all sin, unfortunatel
