Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
purgatory
Table of Contents
References & Edit History Related Topics
Images
Anastasis (Christ ascending from hell), apse fresco, c. 1320; in the Church of the Holy Saviour at the Monastery of the Chora (now the Kariye Museum), Istanbul.
For Students
purgatory summary
Quizzes
Holy week. Easter. Valladolid. Procession of Nazarenos carry a cross during the Semana Santa (Holy week before Easter) in Valladolid, Spain. Good Friday
Christianity Quiz
Related Questions
Read Next
Marriage. A couple getting married during a church wedding ceremony. (religion, ceremony, bride, groom)
The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic church
Candles Burning On Table In Church
What Is the Most Widely Practiced Religion in the World?
The three children, Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia, who saw the vision of Fatima in Portugal. Our lady of Fatima, saint, Christianity.
Our Lady of Fátima
Agnes with a lamb near her feet. St. Agnes (Saint Agnes) design drawing for stained glass window by J&R Lamb Studios, ink, mount size 10.5 x 14.5 in.
Roman Catholic Saints
Saint Francis Xavier baptizing the infidels by an unknown painter, 18th century; in the collection of the Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City, Mexico.
How did St. Francis Xavier shape Catholicism?
Discover
Diverse elementary school children wearing school uniforms running outside of school. Boys girls
Pro and Con: School Uniforms
African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.
Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart rehearsing his 12th Mass with singer and musician. (Austrian composer. (Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
7 Famous Child Prodigies
Close-up of tobacco plants in Ontario, Canada. Tobacco, Nicotiana, cured leaves used after processing in various ways for smoking, snuffing, chewing, and extracting of nicotine.
7 of the World’s Deadliest Plants
Young boys working in a thread spinning mill in Macon, Georgia, 1909. Boys are so small they have to climb onto the spinning frame to reach and fix broken threads and put back empty bobbins. Child labor. Industrial revolution
The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Why Is Ireland Two Countries?
Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
Flags That Look Alike
Anastasis (Christ ascending from hell), apse fresco, c. 1320; in the Church of the Holy Saviour at the Monastery of the Chora (now the Kariye Museum), Istanbul.
Anastasis (Christ ascending from hell), apse fresco, c. 1320; in the Church of the Holy Saviour at the Monastery of the Chora (now the Kariye Museum), Istanbul.

purgatory

Roman Catholicism
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Written by
Carol Zaleski
Professor of Religion, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. Author of Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times and The Life of the World to...
Carol Zaleski
Fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: • Article History

purgatory, the condition, process, or place of purification or temporary punishment in which, according to medieval Christian and Roman Catholic belief, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for heaven. Purgatory (Latin: purgatorium; from purgare, “to purge”) has come to refer as well to a wide range of historical and modern conceptions of postmortem suffering short of everlasting damnation. The idea of purification or temporary punishment after death has ancient roots and is well attested in early Christian literature. The conception of purgatory as a geographically situated place is largely the achievement of ...(100 of 1571 words)

Access the full article
Trust your source with Britannica Premium
• 7-Day Free Trial
• No Ads
• Unlimited Access
Free Trial