Читать книгу Purgatory: Divine Mercy - Marino Restrepo - Страница 5

The Catholic Church teaches us that the existence of Purgatory is so real that she has decreed it Dogma. This means that to consider oneself a Catholic and to profess the faith in obedience to the Church, one must believe this Dogma, otherwise we apostatise from our Catholic faith. It is simply that strict. We can say with certainty that any person who professes the Catholic faith, but denies the existence of Purgatory, whether he be laity, or a religious, ceases to be a Catholic.

Today it is very common to find both priests and laymen who deny the existence of Purgatory with ease, and in some cases, even reject it from the pulpit. It is very important for us, as Catholics to understand the fundamental truths of our faith, otherwise the countless erroneous theologies propagated today, including those found within the Catholic Church, could rob us of the foundations of our religion.

This book does not pretend to give a theological teaching. It is, on the contrary, an opportunity to review the information, written in simple language by a laymen. Who, without formation in Theology or Religious Sciences, wishes to share his personal experience of Jesus Christ; the truths revealed to the Catholic Church, perfectly documented in the Deposit of the Faith and the catalogue of testimonies from the Saints, meticulously compiled in our Sacred History. It is a duty of every Catholic to constantly observe the endless proposals that the world makes to us through human science, modern ideologies and philosophies that appear to be attractive alternatives.

In 15 years of missionary life around the world, I have frequently met Catholics who do not know, or understand the foundations of their faith. Moreover I observed many dioceses lacking a strong catechesis centered on building communities, which focus on the Sacred Tradition and Holy Doctrine of the Church. As a result, there is a huge amount of ignorance about what we must profess as Catholics, and what we are called to preach and defend with our lives.

Understanding the reality of Purgatory is vital for our spiritual growth. If we take an individual who has no knowledge of his ancestry – a person who is unaware of his father’s identity, and compare him with someone who knows, and has a relationship with his father; he, by comparison, lacks the many necessary tools to strengthen his emotional integrity, his interior equilibrium. This applies equally to a Catholic who is not well versed in Doctrine or who, although knowing it, does not believe the truths that have been revealed to him through it. He professes his faith as he wishes which, in other words, means that he is ignorant of his faith; he lacks basic knowledge of his religious roots, and therefore, he has little religious integrity to nourish him for his spiritual edification.

The above picture is very common among modern Catholics. My intention in writing this book, therefore, is to give the ordinary reader access to information that, although not new, seems to have been widely overlooked. The ignorance of the modern-day Catholic’s faith, is not limited to Purgatory; he is also ignorant of the vast majority of truths revealed to the Church.

A Catholic student of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, said to me: ‘It seems to be fashionable to deny the existence of Purgatory’. She was very worried and asked me anxiously: ‘What can we do? When I hear a priest or a nun or a monk speak in such a way, I would like the earth to swallow them, to prevent them from causing further harm, but I know that this is not the way to solve things. What should we do? What happened to them? Who made such fools of them?’

The first chapters of this book are dedicated to presenting the official documentation of the Church, which certifies the existence of Purgatory. You will find the Councils that declare it and the mystical experiences of many Saints, whom God allowed to witness Purgatory in a very profound way, so that they may testify are testimonies of its existence. These faithful testimonies are given for the glory of God and the edification of his Church.

“Purgatory, necessary purification for the encounter with God”

Saint John Paul II