Thank you to Fr. Herzog of Little Flower Catholic Church in St. Louis, Missouri for showing me around the church and for answer my litany of questions. This part of our conversation highlights one of the very big differences between Protestants and Catholics. Fr. Herzog articulated the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, prayer for the dead to complete their time in Purgatory more quickly, and he also talked about the Catholic belief that one needs to make up for sins with good works (including prayer). Protestants generally do not believe in Purgatory, and because of that don’t pray for the dead, and believe that sins cannot be worked off but rather are paid for fully by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
I visit churches different from my own and ask about things like this because I’m eager to learn more about what I have in common with other expressions of Christianity, but I also want to better understand where we differ in our beliefs (as is the case here).
Thank you again to everyone who was kind enough to host me at Little Flower Catholic Church and to Fr. Herzog for being kind, and gracious and open about the life of his church and about theology stuff.
