Question:
Answer:
Quoting St. Gregory the Great, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come (CCC 1031).
This indicates that there is forgiveness for “certain lesser faults” (venial sins) in purgatory. However, the Church also teaches that there is nothing the souls in purgatory can do to obtain this forgiveness for themselves. Pope Leo X, in his condemnation of the errors of Martin Luther, wrote:
In virtue of our pastoral office committed to us by the divine favor we can under no circumstances tolerate or overlook any longer the pernicious poison of the above errors without disgrace to the Christian religion and injury to orthodox faith. Some of these errors we have decided to include in the present document; their substance is as follows: … The souls in purgatory are not sure of their salvation, at least not all; nor is it proved by any arguments or by the Scriptures that they are beyond the state of meriting or of increasing in charity (Exsurge Domine, error 38, emphasis added).
In purgatory, souls are dependent on the charity of those in heaven and those on earth to alleviate their suffering and hasten their release to heaven. As the Catechism also states:
In the communion of saints, “a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things.” In this wonderful exchange, the holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others. Thus recourse to the communion of saints lets the contrite sinner be more promptly and efficaciously purified of the punishments for sin (CCC 1475).