Further to the two letters ‘Spiritual Significance of All Souls Day’ by Diomedes Pereira and ‘Remembering Our Dear Ones on All Souls Day’ by Ronnie D’Souza (TGE, November 2), I would like to comment as follows: For Catholics, All Souls Day is set aside every year on November 2 to remember and pray for the departed souls of our dear and loved ones. However, no one knows what happens to the soul after it leaves the body at death, whether it goes to its heavenly abode, languishes in Purgatory, or burns in hell.
In good faith, however, people pray for their deceased members in the pious belief that their prayers will lessen their burden and stay in Purgatory. Although there is no mention whatsoever in the Bible of a place called Purgatory, it has come to be accepted by the Catholic Church that the Pope has jurisdiction over Purgatory and the prerogative to grant indulgences to lighten the sufferings in Purgatory.
Secondly, it is pertinent to mention that the main support for the doctrine of Purgatory is found in the Old Testament book of 2 Maccabees (12:42-45), where a pious Jew named Judas Maccabaeus collected 2,000 drachmas of silver from his soldiers and sent it to Jerusalem as an offering for a sacrifice for sins committed by his soldiers who were killed in the war, in the belief that they would be pardoned of their sins of idolatry. Besides this, there is no doctrinal evidence of Purgatory.
