Purgatory

In Roman Catholic belief a place or a state of existence in which the soul is purged of its sins after death.

Catholic dogma distinguishes between mortal sins, which (if unrepented) will lead to damnation in hell, and venial sins, which are a moral disorder but do not deprive the sinner of friendship with God. If venial sins remain unrepented during lifetime, the soul of the sinner is not sufficiently pure to enter Heaven and will instead enter purgatory to be purged of its sins (Catechism of the Catholic Church, esp. # 1854-1863.)

In the Middle Ages and later, many believers envisioned purgatory as a physical place where the souls were exposed to a cleansing fire - cp. the German term "Fegefeuer". Dogmatically, however, purgatory is a state of existence, i.e. "the process of purification" (John Paul II. General Audience 4 August 1999.)

After somebody's death the living can shorten the time the soul of the deceased has to spend in purgatory by praying and doing good works. In early modern times this belief was used to persuade people to buy indulgences for their late relatives.