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A part of the afterlife where souls are kept until they are allowed to enter heaven. Catholics (such as Dante Alighieri) believe in this because they think souls need to be clean before they can be allowed into heaven, as opposed to Protestants who believe that accepting Jesus as one's personal savior entitles one to heaven automatically no matter how filthy your soul is. It is unpleasant and fiery like hell, but the souls there are not like the damned, in that they love God and are already saved. Part of the torment is the waiting. A "term" in purgatory can vary widely in length, from a few minutes to the end of the world, and in intensity, from "just slightly less bad than hell" to simply kept in a waiting room. Like prison, visitations by angels and saints are allowed for some souls.
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