Religion Belief About Death

My family's religion is Christianity, specifically Catholic. As Catholics we have always been taught that at the point of death, the persons soul separates from their earthly body. They then face an immediate judgment by God who decides whether the person enters Heaven, goes to Purgatory or is damned to Hell. The Church accepts that most souls will go to Purgatory. This, in theological terms, is when the soul undergoes a period of purification from the sins committed on earth in preparation to enter into God's heavenly kingdom that is ultimately paradise. Those who are in complete denial of their maker, refusing to ask forgiveness for their sins, will be condemned to hell. The concept of Purgatory is the reason why Catholics pray for people who have died, so that they're souls and all the souls of the "faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace". Catholics particularly pray for their deceased loved ones on November 2nd, All Souls Day, and also throughout the month of November which is dedicated to the departed.

Before researching this I had a pretty solid idea of what death was to all Catholics. I feel that I was generally in the right ball park, except I always thought that we would all be judged at the same time, so those who came thousands of years before me and those still to come. But instead we are judged as soon as our souls exit our bodies and reach the Lord. I also did not think that most people had to go through Purgatory. I always believed that if you were accepted, then you automatically were sent to heaven without any sort of process, let alone a cleansing of the sins. Fortunately, I find these new beliefs better than my older, and less knowledgeable ideas.

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