III. The Final Purification, or Purgatory

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of the eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin. From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Catechism of the Catholic Church, page 291, Doubleday, New York, 1995.

II. HEAVEN

1023 Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with
Christ. They are like God for ever, for they "see him as he is," face to face:[596] By virtue of
our apostolic authority, we define the following: According to the general disposition of God,
the souls of all the saints . . . and other faithful who died after receiving Christ's holy Baptism
(provided they were not in need of purification when they died, . . . or, if they then did need or
will need some purification, when they have been purified after death, . . .) already before they
take up their bodies again and before the general judgment - and this since the Ascension of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ into heaven - have been, are and will be in heaven, in the
heavenly Kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels.
Since the Passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, these souls have seen and do see the
divine essence with an intuitive vision, and even face to face, without the mediation of any
creature.[597]

1024 This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the
Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed - is called "heaven." Heaven is the
ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive
happiness.

1025 To live in heaven is "to be with Christ." The elect live "in Christ,"[598] but they retain, or
rather find, their true identity, their own name.[599] For life is to be with Christ; where Christ
is, there is life, there is the kingdom.[600]

1026 By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has "opened" heaven to us. The life of the
blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished
by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and
remained faithful to his will. Heaven is the blessed community of all who are perfectly
incorporated into Christ.

1027 This mystery of blessed communion with God and all who are in Christ is beyond all
understanding and description. Scripture speaks of it in images: life, light, peace, wedding
feast, wine of the kingdom, the Father's house, the heavenly Jerusalem, paradise: "no eye has
seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who
love him."[601]

1028 Because of his transcendence, God cannot be seen as he is, unless he himself opens up
his mystery to man's immediate contemplation and gives him the capacity for it. The Church
calls this contemplation of God in his heavenly glory "the beatific vision": How great will your
glory and happiness be, to be allowed to see God, to be honored with sharing the joy of
salvation and eternal light with Christ your Lord and God, . . . to delight in the joy of
immortality in the Kingdom of heaven with the righteous and God's friends.[602]

1029 In the glory of heaven the blessed continue joyfully to fulfill God's will in relation to other
men and to all creation. Already they reign with Christ; with him "they shall reign for ever and
ever."[603]