The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1907-1917, 1914-01-29

the soul in Purgatory. The popuIace
grows poor and ignorant. Cathedrals
and churches rise of marble, gilded
with gold, and prelates live in prince
ly splendor The heart-strings Of
the living are narrowed by the heart
mlseries Of the dead; the purse
stringss of the living are tied to the
hands of those who teach Purgato-
rial suffering, and the purses are
emptied into the Golfers of the
church in order to mitigate, to some
extent, the sufferings of those in
Purgatorial flames. Look at it all
and see what a power the priest has
in this thing over the living through
the declared sufferings of the dead.
Only absolute saintship among the
priests can prevent graft, terrible
graft, in the administration of such
a system.
[ find something further in the
study Of the Catholic creed on Pur-
gatory, it is this:
But where this place be, of what
nature or quality the pains be, how
long souls may be there detained, in
what manner the suffrages made on
their behalf may be applied, are
questions superf1uence. Gath of
Catholics, London, 1866
Where is Purgatory? The Catho-
lie Infallible Pope does not knew.
That Of itself is not strange to US,
but an Infallible Pope and church
ought to know.
But the church says: ''I do not
know the nature OF quality of the
pains. How, then, do priests know
how to charge for their alienation?
Further, the article says: 1T is
not known how long souls may be
there detained"
Again, it is affirmed: "It is super
fuous to ask how the gifts made on
behalf Of those in Purgatory may be
applied.''
Now, if the Tnfallible Pope, and
church, and cardinals, and archbish-
ops, and bishops, and priests, do not
know where Purgatory is: nor the
nature and quality Of it's pains, nor
how long anybody is to be there; nor
how the gifts in behalf of the suffer-
ing are to be applied in order to
relieve the suffering, how does any
priest know what to charge for any
mass, or many masses, for the dead?
And how does any priest know
whether the gift of the living for the
NC1AChC VI IAlG UScu IS ever dDDI1GQa
And how does any priest know that
any soul was ever gotten out of Pur-
gatory? These are questions that
even the Infallible Pope can not ans
Wer with any sense, reason or reve-
Iation.
The whole thing looks to a man
with an open Bible like heathenism
and fraud. Purgatory is a heather
teaching which slipped into the Ro-
man Catholic church, and because it
became mighty grating power
a leverage by which some wicked,
conniying, Goddess popes and priests
could pull fortunes out of the living
for the supposed sufferings of the
dead, and because decreed by some
Pope as a part OF the church system,
the church can't repudiate it with
out going back on ''infaIlibility.'
There is a Heaven, God, Christ,
and the Holy Spirit say so.
There is He'll. God, Christ, and
the Holy Spirit say so.
There is no Purgatory beyond the
grave taught in the word of God.
The whole Purgatorial teaching is
terrible reflection on Christ. It
says by all it involves that may be
God Christ, the Holy Spirit, the
burnings and pains of those in Pur-
gatory, the saying Of masses by
priests for the dead, when paid for
by the living friends of the dead,
may save some souls after a shorter