[annalex]

the idea that that time or place is somehow or other expiatory is, while seen occassionally, outside the consensus patrum as we know it.

Definitely. It is often stressed by the Catholics, that the reason we pray for the soul sin purgatory is that they cannot any longer repent and liberate themselves.

[Kolokotronis]

"It is often stressed by the Catholics, that the reason we pray for the soul sin purgatory is that they cannot any longer repent and liberate themselves."

The word liberate is likely also indicative of a difference between the doctrines of the Orthodox and Latin Churches. For us, the "place of the dead" isn't, since the Resurrection, a place we are liberated from. Its where souls will rest until the final judgment.