17/07/2025
At Death, We All Become Catholics
By Chinedu Duru
There is a curious unity that emerges in the face of death. Whether Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, agnostic, or otherwise—at the passing of a loved one, we instinctively turn to language soaked in mercy, hope, and intercession. “May God have mercy on his soul.” “May she rest in peace.” “May the Lord forgive his sins.” These are not just sentimental gestures; they are theological affirmations, often unspoken, but deeply revealing.
Ironically, such prayers echo a profoundly Catholic instinct—the belief that divine mercy may still be operative beyond the grave, that the soul’s journey is not yet complete, and that the living can, through prayer, participate in that mystery. This is, in essence, what the doctrine of purgatory affirms.
Yet, the mere mention of purgatory in many circles often elicits confusion, mockery, or outright rejection. It’s caricatured as a medieval invention, an ecclesiastical loophole, or a tool of guilt. But is it possible that purgatory is far more familiar—and far more human—than we care to admit?
Consider this: If you have ever prayed for the dead, even for a moment, you are acknowledging a profound truth—that death is not always the end of the story, and that God’s mercy is not constrained by time. You are, knowingly or not, a purgatorian.
Purgatory is not a cosmic waiting room, nor a punishment for the semi-damned. It is, rather, the logical and merciful extension of God’s justice and love—a place (or process) where the soul, still imperfectly conformed to divine love, is purified in the light of grace. It is hope for the imperfectly repentant, not condemnation.
In a culture increasingly allergic to absolutes, we still cling to the language of divine mercy at the hour of death. We pray. We hope. We speak of peace. We appeal, not to karma or nothingness, but to grace. And in doing so, we affirm something deeply Catholic: that God's mercy stretches even into the mystery of death, and that the communion of saints—living and departed—is not a poetic abstraction, but a living reality.
So the next time you say, “May he rest in peace,” remember what you are really saying: that God is not yet finished with us, even in death. That love endures beyond the grave. And that—Catholic or not—we are all, in the end, children of mercy.