| A
place or condition in which believers are after death forgiven and
make satisfaction for unconfessed venial sins and complete satisfaction
for already forgiven sins, all before admission to the Beatific Vision. |
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15th-century
depiction of purgatory
|
The doctrine of
purgatory developed in the late patristic and early medieval periods.
It is based on the apocryphal 2 Maccabees 12:39-45. Later teaching on
purgatory was refined by Thomas
Aquinas who emphasized that that souls in purgatory may be assisted
by masses, prayers, and indulgences offered
by the living.
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