According to Our Catholic Prayers, while it is not comfortable and there will be suffering, the belief is that “their purification ‘pays for the damages’ of their sins. It makes whatever restitution remains for these sins to God.”

As part of the belief system, there is even a prayer for the dead and masses that can be done for those who may be enduring purgatory, but the masses are not necessarily free. Catholic.com reported that critics say that the idea of purgatory is used within the Catholic Church as a money maker, because when a memorial mass for the dead is celebrated at the request of someone who has lost a loved one and wants to pray for their soul, the priest who says the Mass might receive a “stipend,” a token payment. But Catholic.com denies that memorial masses are lucrative.

“Purgatory is consistently denied and vigorously opposed by Protestant Christians,” writes Tenth Presbyterian Church. Not only is purgatory not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, but it also goes against what they see are basic Christian teachings because, as they write, “according to the Bible, we are saved from our sins by trusting in Jesus Christ as our Savior.” Therefore there should be no atonement or purgatory necessary.

But Catholics disagree. Per Our Catholic Prayers, purgatory can be thought of as simply a place to “prepare souls for their heavenly home.”