Final Purification in the Afterlife (or Purgatory)
An Interview with Fr. Deacon Anthony Dragani on Diverse Views of Final Transformation after Death
The doctrine of purgatory has been a divisive one between Catholics and Protestants as well as Catholics and Protestants over the last 800 years. To discuss the Eastern Christian view of prayer for the dead and cleansing in the afterlife, I invited Fr. Deacon Anthony Dragani who belongs to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to hear his thoughts. Eastern Catholics generally view themselves as ‘Orthodox in union with Rome’ and so if they are faithful to the Eastern Christian tradition, they will have to grapple with some of the Western or Latin depictions of purgatory from the Middle Ages that also became problematic for someone like Martin Luther. Today, the Catholic Church not only allows but even promotes more diverse expressions and breathing room on this topic. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!