The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory. . . .

. . . .is a fond thing, vainly invented and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture , but rather repugnant to the Word of God.

So saith number XXII of The Articles of Religion of the Church of England. I wonder: do we subscribe to that article here in the nominally "Romish" Archdiocese of Hollywood? I hadn't heard that we did but I don't always follow the papers as closely as I might. Well, it's still there in the Catechism of the Catholic Church with its own couple of paragraphs at 1030 through 1032. Apparently we still believe in Purgatory in the Church Universal. But how about "the Local Church in Los Angeles"?

One would never have known it by attending the funeral I played for the other day. Not only was there no mention whatsoever of Purgatory but the assumption behind every word spoken was that good ol' Bob went directly to heaven immediately he drew his last breath. A sort of parochial canonisation ceremony. No jiggery-pokery about investigation of his life or number of miracles for beatification like poor old Padre Pio had to undergo. And just to make sure there was no doubt at all of Bob's final destination, we enjoyed that popular liturgical wheeze in which the third Eucharistic prayer is used so that "Bob" can be inserted as the saint-of-the-day.

I wonder if they've done him any favour by "celebrating his life" and leaving prayer for his soul to anyone who still remembers and happens yet to believe the old doctrine. At least he got the Mass.