Masses and prayers for the souls in purgatory: Spain debates the business of the afterlife

Purgatory is prayed for, paid for and argued over: the debate on Masses for the souls

The greatest investment a believer can make in this life is to dedicate Masses and prayers to the dead. That is the thesis that opens a discussion which has gone on for more than two years, and it begins with a blunt claim: praying for the souls in purgatory pays better returns than any other good work. From there, the issue turns into a tug-of-war between doctrine, scepticism and an uncomfortable question nobody fully settles: if purgatory exists, who runs it, and at what price?

The starting point is a tradition centuries old. The souls bell of Tornavacas, 300 years old, is still rung daily — at 20:30 or 21:00 in summer and 18:30 or 19:00 in winter — and in La Alberca a similar custom has been kept up for 75 years. María Luz, a resident of one of these villages, rings her small bell every day at sundown. It is not museum folklore: it is a living liturgy that sustains the belief that the living can ease the suffering of the dead.

What is purgatory, and where does the duty to pray for the dead come from?

Catholic doctrine defines it as a state of purification for those who die in God's grace but with debts still outstanding. The catechism backs it up and tradition turns it into a duty of the living. That is where the plenary indulgence comes in, which according to the sources cited can be gained on any day of the year, along with the practice of requesting Masses for the dead, with priests offering them free of charge through platforms such as benditasanimas.com.

The theological controversy soon appears. One voice in the debate puts it bluntly: "The dead who have already passed through the golden gate have no need of Masses." The objection has an internal logic: if the soul is already in God's presence, intercession is superfluous. The Catholic answer is that purgatory is precisely the intermediate state where those prayers do work.

The Protestant front is the harshest. It is argued that purgatory is not biblical and that there is only one mediator between God and mankind, Jesus Christ. The Protestant Reformation rejected this doctrine outright, and the debate stresses that that break was dramatic precisely because of this point. For Catholicism, by contrast, prayer for the dead is a practice backed by Scripture and the magisterium.

The business of Masses: the accusation hanging over the whole debate

The most repeated criticism is not theological but economic. The claim is that purgatory works as a mechanism to swell Church coffers through the booking of Masses supposedly helping the souls in torment. It is the classic accusation of simony, and in the debate it is thrown out without nuance: purgatory would not exist according to the Church itself and would be nothing but a business.

The defence consists of separating doctrine from practice. Confraternities of the Holy Souls — those of Tequila in Mexico and Coria del Río are mentioned — have historically channelled this devotion, and religious art has depicted purgatory for centuries. There are soul niches, such as the one at San Bartolomé, and figures such as Padre Pio associated with intercession for the dead. Tradition, they argue, is not sustained by money alone.

The political turn and the thread's drift

In the middle of the theological discussion, the issue crosses into international current affairs. One voice suggests praying for the civilian population of Gaza, and the reply is not long in coming: responsibility for those deaths is laid at Hamas's door. The exchange shifts the focus to the conflict and to the role of the Jewish community, ending with an abrupt exit by someone who finds the thread has become unbearable.

There is also room for militant scepticism. There is irony about how, if you pray, the divine heart softens and ends up granting pardons to the sinners of purgatory. And it is recommended, with a wink, that anyone with spiritual energy devote it to more tangible causes. The discussion about the afterlife coexists with Spanish politics of the moment, including mention of VOX rallies as part of the personal experiences of the one defending the efficacy of prayer.

Suicide, the second death and the questions left open

One of the most concrete questions raised is what happens to someone who was a good person but ends up taking their own life. The doctrinal answer distinguishes between mortal sin without repentance — which would lead to definitive separation from God — and the mercy that can operate at the last instant. The second death of the Apocalypse is identified with hell, not with purgatory.

The debate is enriched by references to mystical fasting. Five cases are documented, four women and one man: Saint Catherine of Siena, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, Blessed Alexandrina, the Venerable Therese Neumann and Saint Nicholas of Flüe. In most of the female cases, serious illness, stigmata and the reliving of the Passion every Friday coincide. These are phenomena the Church studies with caution and that scepticism dismisses as pathology.

The conversation ends without closing the underlying question. The lucernarios — oil lamps that once lit the way for the souls — appear as a final curiosity, along with the realisation that belief in purgatory has left its mark on the landscape, on art and on the calendar. Whether the doctrine convinces is another matter. But business, devotion and doubt have coexisted for centuries, and this tug-of-war shows the subject is still alive. With everything going on in Spain, some may prefer to pray for the dead rather than for the living.