Hi zbusc,
I think you maybe misrepresenting what Catholics preach.
I don"t think they preach that everyone goes to purgatory.
Catholics appear to have a flotilla of saints. They appear to go straight to heaven which is great.
It is also a comfort to know that the repentant thief will that very day be in paradise with Jesus.
But was that paradise actually heaven.
Jesus had not yet been resurrected from the dead and Heaven was still closed.
I think it was more like the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke 16:19-31&version=NIVLazarus appears to be in paradise and the rich man in a purgatory.
Such appears to be the case with the repentant thief. He was in paradise with Jesus that very day but Jesus also descended
into Hell and preached to the dead the gospel.
https://biblehub.com/1_peter/3-19.htmhttps://biblehub.com/1_peter/4-6.htmzbusc,
This is the Good news
It is great that saints go straight to heaven and
a comfort to me that even a repentant thief can find heaven but
what gives me hope is that Jesus can save even the ones lost and suffering in Hades
There is hope for the hopeless.
This is the Good News that Jesus died for us
The righteous one for the unrighteous
