Limbo is not biblical in concept - in spirit and in letters. It is not found in the Bible. The braveness of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger or Pope Benedict XVI, to declare that Limbo does not exist contradicting almost all previous popes before him is a heroic act. We do not know if this was the reason why he later relinquished his post being the highest authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Maybe he was pressured by other authorities, maybe not! Only God knows the whole story.
Two decades before this, way back in June 1985, the “Ratzinger Report” was published. It was an exclusive interview on the state of the Church written by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. It has Vittorio Messori as co-author, the Italian journalist that interviewed him. Ratzinger states that he is "speaking more as a theologian and not as Prefect of the Congregation, and that “I would abandon Limbo since it was only a theological hypothesis." (Ratzinger Report, p. 147, www.amazon.com).
When Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, the following year in October 2006 he announced that limbo does not exist. [In February 2013, Benedict XVI resigned from his position as pope].
However, in that Ratzinger Report, Benedict asserted that "if Purgatory did not exist, we should have to invent it." (P.146).
There are many secrets in the Roman Catholic Church written and archived, or spoken - after which the speaker is silenced. The history of the inquisition knows better than anyone of us living today. To murder more than 300,000 people at a given time carry with it 300,000 secrets and stories unrevealed.
But the story on how purgatory came into existence in the minds and belief of all Catholics is one of the deepest secrets of the Roman Catholic Church. It is a secret because it is not a teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ or of the apostles. The prophets did not mention any idea of purgatory! But what is purgatory?
Here’s what the Modern Catholic Dictionary says on Page 452. Take note that it does not simply define the word, “Purgatory,” but supplies a load of non-biblical beliefs connected to this Catholic concept. Purgatory is not found in the Bible, and the beliefs attached to this doctrine contravene a lot of biblical injunctions.
• After death there’s a stopover for purification before going to heaven.
• This stopover provides temporary suffering or misery.
• The dead person’s condition is tied to people on earth who will have to do things for this person.
• At the same time the dead can intercede for the people on earth and that is why those living are encouraged to invoke the aid of the dead.
• The duration of suffering and misery is not the same for all.
• The suffering and misery will continue until one is free from all guilt and punishment.
• “Immediately upon purification, the soul is assumed into heaven.”
• The poor are assured of going to heaven.
The problem with this dictionary is that it claims power to declare man-made truth. By whom, it is not clear. It is not also clear under whom it is subject to.
The practices of the Catholics are obviously pegged on these beliefs. That is the reason why they forever pay their church for so-called masses for the dead though their dead have been gone several decades ago. That is the reason they talk to the dead and think these have power to intercede for them. That is also the reason why they celebrate the birthdays of the dead as though they were still alive. In contrast, the Bible makes it clear that once dead, the remains of the individual are in the hands of God.
The Catholic Church has created a lot of counterfeits, removing the power from God and ascribing authority to Mary, who is herself dead. It has also ascribed power to the dead to intercede for those alive. And in between, it has placed many stories to take away righteous judgment from God. The result is a sham and they make people go through motions of paying, paying and forever paying – for such kind of salvation.
The Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, certainly knew the non-existence of the purgatory when he wrote his book, "Noli Me Tangere".
Dr. Rizal read the entire Bible and said, "Neither Moses nor Jesus Christ make the slightest mention of purgatory."
The soul of a just person need not be purified in purgatory. The sanctifying power and grace in the blood of Christ is sufficient and never wanting for just souls to merit entry in the kingdom of God!
HEBREWS 9:14
How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
REVELATION 7:14
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
The souls of the just are in heaven while waiting for the judgment - not in purgatory!
REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
The place called "under the altar" in heaven cannot be purgatory because it is a place where the souls of the just "rest" and not a place of temporal punishments and atonement, mentioned in the doctrine of purgatory! Under the altar in heaven is not a place of suffering. Surely, the souls of the just "rest" under the altar!
Purgatory is a moneymaking doctrine for the Catholic Church! For souls to be taken out of suffering in purgatory, prayers and masses are needed. Almost all masses held every day in the Catholic Church are paid for by the faithfuls. The more you love your dearly departed relative, the more you will ask for masses and prayers. In prayers, you have to provide yourself with a rosary that is commercially available in all Catholic stores. [Note: We have earlier discussed that the rosary is a joke, a sham, a mere invention.]
Cheaper rosaries are made of beads and woods, and this is an easy choice for the poor. For the middle class, there are rosaries made of silver and copper and other cheaper materials. But for the luxurious rich, there are rosaries whose beads are 5 carats diamonds!
Purgatory is a doctrine conniving with rosary, novenas, masses, and "bula de composicion." Titled “To the Young women of Malolos,” this was written by Dr. Jose Rizal, Philippine’s National Hero, and edited by Teodoro M. Kalaw; published by the National Library, Manila, 1932. Rizal was one of those they were not able to deceive. Here’s an excerpt.
This is the reason why Dr. Jose Rizal was put to death by firing squad by the then Catholic government of the Philippines influenced by Spanish friars.
No human knows at what point in the depth of oblivion the doctrine of purgatory emerged! It is really a deep secret of the Catholic Church!
In the Bible, there are two real places mentioned as final destiny of man: the kingdom of God, and eternal fire.
MATTHEW 25:32-46
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
