I’ve been doing some reading on this site:

[url:113vdr5g]http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/death/stmark_purg.aspx[/url:113vdr5g]

I’m failing to see how we exactly disagree. It seems like you guys just don’t like words like [i:113vdr5g]fire[/i:113vdr5g] as being involved in the cleansing from sins after death. As far as I know, no Catholic doctrine requires believing that the term “fire” is a physical fire as opposed to an allegorical description to refer to a spiritual matter. If that is the case, is there really a difference between the teachings of the Orthodox Churches and the Catholic Church?

This part really helped:

[quote:113vdr5g]When giving in this answer (June 14th), Bessarion explained the difference of the Greek and Latin doctrine on this subject. The Latins, he said, allow that now, and until the day of the last judgment, departed souls are purified by fire, and are thus liberated from their sins; so that, he who has sinned the most will be a longer time undergoing purification, whereas he whose sins are less will be absolved the sooner, with the aid of the Church; but in the future life they allow the eternal, and not the purgatorial fire. Thus the Latins receive both the temporal and the eternal fire, and call the first the purgatorial fire. On the other hand, the Greeks teach of one eternal fire alone, understanding that the temporal punishment of sinful souls consists in that they for a time depart into a place of darkness and sorrow, are punished by being deprived of the Divine light, and are purified that is, liberated from this place of darkness and woe by means of prayers, the Holy Eucharist, and deeds of charity, and not by fire. The Greeks also believe, that until the union of the souls to the bodies, as the souls of sinners do not suffer full punishment, so also those of the saints do not enjoy entire bliss. But the Latins, agreeing with the Greeks in the first point, do not allow the last one, affirming that the souls of saints have already received their full heavenly reward.[/quote:113vdr5g]

Let me know your thoughts.

~Victor