The doctrine of purgatory is revealed through certain scriptural
texts which speak of a burning fire – cf. 1 Cor 3:15, 1 Pet 1:7.
Though there are certainly other passages of the Bible which can
be drawn upon (e.g. Job praying for his dead children, the Judas
Maccabeus praying for the dead), the Tradition of the Church has
principally relied upon the passages referring to fire – this is
especially noticeable in the declarations of Florence and Trent.
Hence, we come to a very important question: If the Church
discovered the doctrine of purgatory through meditating upon the
scriptural images of a purifying fire, ought we to hold that
there is material fire in purgatory? With the help of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church and the great Thomistic
theologian Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, we may succeed in
shedding some light upon this question. Not a clear teaching of
the Church That there is fire in purgatory is not a clear
teaching of the Church – Garrigou-Lagrange considers it a
sententia probabilissima (th