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Howard Storm, a former atheist whose brush with death turned him into a Protestant minister, says that he now believes in purgatory. "It only makes sense," he says, "but I have trouble discussing this with my fellow ministers." Featured here a couple months ago and also on MSNBC during Easter Week -- where he told his incredible story to a national audience -- Reverend Storm, considered by experts as one of the most convincing near-death cases, recounted his "dying" in Paris in 1985 from a perforated duodenum and after leaving his body finding himself with a group of hideous beings...

Do Catholics Believe in Purgatory?    FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS I hardly hear purgatory mentioned anymore. I have even heard some Catholics say we do not believe in it since Vatican II. What is the right teaching? On Sept. 17, 2002, our late beloved Pope John Paul II stressed the need to pray for the Souls in Purgatory. He said, "The first and highest form of charity for brothers is the ardent desire for their eternal salvation ... . Christian love knows no boundaries and goes beyond the limits of space and time, enabling us to love those who have already...

This is the account of a minister, Howard Storm, from Ohio, who "died" in 1985 from a perforation in his intestines and returned with an account of hell. While he's a minister now (at Zion United Church of Christ in Norwood), at the time he was an atheistic professor, chairman of the art department at North Kentucky University. Storm describes himself as a selfish man who not only didn't believe but detested those who did. Then came the crisis on June 1, 1985, while he was leading students on a trip to museums in Paris. "I needed surgery immediately but...

The other day, I heard on an evangelical station a preacher say that the RCC teaches that the fires of purgatory are as hot as the fires of hell and the only difference between the two is the duration. What does the Catholic Church teach about this? Exact quote: "The fire of Purgatory and Hell are the same, except in duration"

Book Review: The Catholic Verses, by Dave Armstrong 06/24/05 A number of former Protestant Evangelicals, like me, claim that the reason we became Catholic was that for the first time the Bible, as a whole, suddenly made sense. As Protestants we were always trying to find a logical way for the “Bible difficulties” we encountered to fit together into a cohesive whole. In This Article... Bible Difficulties Unique Technique Changed Doctrine Bible Difficulties “Bible difficulties” are what Protestant-Evangelical scholars call the result of comparing desperately different Bible texts that create paradoxes. For example, Romans 3:28 seems to says we are...

Limbo and the Hope of Salvation by Dr. Jeff Mirus, special to CatholicCulture.orgMay 12, 2005 In a recent website review, we were compelled to list the site’s views on limbo as a weakness. Some Catholics are under the impression that the Church has formally taught that unbaptized infants cannot be saved but must inevitably be consigned to a marginal abode known as limbo, where no supernatural happiness is possible. But this is not what the Church teaches. The Questions Raised by BaptismThe Church does teach that the enjoyment of the presence of God in heaven is not ours by right....

Baptist church 'fake pope' sign attracting attention, criticism By JEANNINE F. HUNTER, hunter@knews.com April 13, 2005 NEWPORT, Tenn. - Two days after being posted, a church marquee message that questions the purpose of the papacy is still attracting attention in this small community. "What I am trying to do is to let people know there's only one way to heaven through Jesus Christ," said the Rev. Cline Franklin, pastor of Hilltop Baptist Church. "There's no need for help. God sent his son, Jesus Christ. We're all priests if we're saved. I don't need to go to anybody else to pray."...

A free brochure on purgatory and indulgences is available for download at http://bridegroompress.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=28This brochure may be freely downloaded, e-mailed, printed out and distributed in churches, small groups, or among friends and acquaintances, etc. in order to promote a correct understanding of the Catholic teaching on the subject.

Because of the heresy of Martin Luther, the idea of Purgatory has long been considered a myth of the Catholic Church - a medieval myth. You'll note anyone seeking to advance the modernist, Masonic, One World New Order agenda will most always label traditional practices as "medieval." No, the whole 'medieval' smear is exactly what modernists are so adept at: inaccuracies and lies… Why is it that something so fundamental to Church dogma has been abandoned? Just as there are Three Persons in One God, the Triune Divinity, so also there are three components in One Communion of Saints. Those...

He has portrayed the Crucifixion - now Mel Gibson has his sights set on the tale that led to Chanukah. "The Passion of the Christ" director told WABC's Sean Hannity yesterday that he's planning a movie based on a Jewish rebellion nearly 200 years before the birth of Christ. "The story that's always fired my imagination ... is the Book of Maccabees," Gibson said in the radio interview. "It's about Antiochus, the king who set up his religion in the Temple, and forced them all to deny the true God and worship at his feet and worship false gods. "The...

Hello Everyone, With Lent well underway, please Prayerfully consider becoming a missionary to empty Purgatory. This is an informal group of Religious & Lay people dedicated to Praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Please visit the web site for Mission To Empty Purgatory ( http://www.MTEP.com ). You will find no adverts, no requests for money and no need to give out personal information. All we need are your Prayers. Please help the poor Holy Souls in Purgatory, they are in desperate need of our Prayers. As St Padre Pio says: "The Holy Souls are eager for the prayers of...

By Terry Boyd, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Sunday, March 7, 2004 Terry Boyd / S&S Weapons and munitions take up much of the interior of the Afghan militia compound next to Firebase Purgatory in Afghanistan. Troops around the country are finding arms. Here Pfc. Michael Greenwood surveys the take, some of which will be handed over to the new Afghan army. The rest will be destroyed. FIREBASE PURGATORY, Afghanistan — Before he joined, Pfc. Brad Atanasoff worked at a hotel with a Thai man who was terribly homesick.“He was always talking about how much he missed home,” said Atanasoff, 21,...

One of the most baffling things regarding Jesus's crucifixcion and resurrection was the quote by the criminal on the other side of where Jesus was hanging: If Jesus told him that he would be with him in paradise today then where did Jesus go? What we learn from religious institutions is not always commensurate with the truth of the actual Scriptures. Here we researched for you what the Bible actually says about the terms Paradise and Heaven When Jesus was crucified, there were two criminals hanging on crosses beside Him. One of them confessed that he was sorry about his...

<p>For those concerned about their final destination after they die, beware: There apparently isn't a lot of space available in heaven. But if you don't mind the utter lack of oceanfront housing, hell appears to have plenty of room.</p> <p>This we can discern from the results of a new poll of several hundred Americans on matters pertaining to the hereafter. Barna Research Group of Ventura, Calif., found that when it comes to the prospect of eternal damnation, only a fraction of folks seem remotely prepared for the possibility.</p>

A SURPRISING DEFENCE It is true that a man who believed things completely contrary to the convictions of today's fundamental preachers and educators could be exalted and defended by them. Of course, I believe this is done primarily because our fundamental brethren know little of what either Dr. Westcott or Dr. Hort really believed and taught.

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1903) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828-1892) have been highly controversial figures in biblical history.

Christmas is the time in which more souls are released from further suffering in purgatory than at any other time. Remember to mention them in your prayer petitions today. And once they are released, they will pray for you from Heaven. Merry Christmas.

One major difference between Protestants and Catholics is that Catholics pray for the dead. As Cardinal Ratzinger said so well, "My view is that if Purgatory did not exist, we should have to invent it." Why? "Because few things are as immediate, as human and as widespread - at all times and in all cultures - as prayer for one's own departed dear ones." Calvin, the Protestant reformer of Geneva, had a woman whipped because she was discovered praying at the grave of her son and hence was guilty, according to Calvin, of "superstition." "In theory, the Reformation refuses...