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Traditional Doctrine Of The Holy Catholic Church
In the Church, after the Councils of Florence and Trent, the doctrine of the existence of such a place was adopted and became known as Purgatory. In this place of suffering, unabsolved sins are purged from one's soul before it can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Just how long this period of suffering endures has been a subject of question for centuries but the very existence of Purgatory was rejected in the Protestant Reformation as well as the belief that the Church could grant indulgences for loving and kind deeds in a person's life in this world to absolve sin. Also rejected by the Protestants was the belief that a living person through the same loving and kind deeds with prayer could absolve the sins from the soul of a person in Purgatory. Regardless of anyone's belief, there can be no more loving act than to remember someone's life and hope for his or her soul by trying to become a good and kindhearted person. Since the Vatican Councils, the belief in Purgatory and indulgences are not widely taught, at least in the United States, in what seems an effort to modernize the Church and quiet some of the controversies that have long existed between Catholics and Protestants. Such efforts towards this "modernization" have seen the belief in Purgatory and homage to a patron saint fall from the tradition of the Church to the extent these beliefs are rarely mentioned at Mass. Saint Jude Thaddeus, previously known as the patron of hopeless and impossible cases, is now referred to as the patron of hope. Compared to the original premise of Jude Thaddeus, this sounds like something conceived by a Jewish advertising agent.

Certainly, no one in this life can know if any place such as Tuonela or Purgatory exists but I hold to the traditions of the Church and firmly believe in Purgatory. Often, I'm troubled by the question why do some become good and loving while others become evil and resentful. Many believe it all has something to do with recessive genes and results from some sort of biological process rather than a person's experiences in life. This may well be true but we must also consider how a person's experiences in life contribute to what sort of man or woman that person eventually becomes. Some do not have the will and determination to prevail over heartbreak and disappointment and finally become victims of this world. Perhaps that is where the recessive genes claim what remains of their lives and cast them into crime, hate and resent. And may Saint Jude Thaddeus, patron of the hopeless, pray for all who languish in Purgatory – especially the victims who could not contend with what this life made of them.