Purgatory

Yesterday I talked with a close one about purgatory. I was curious about it and today I searched and asked a friend about it.
Turns out it is like a temporary placeholder for people who are going to heaven but need a time for purification first, by being punished, and the punishment is as heavy as hell itself.
Catholic churches believe this, but protestant churches, started by Luther movement, deny this and claim that people are saved by faith alone.

I think I will investigate this matter a bit further, right now I can't say anything about it other than I myself don't believe the existence of purgatory, as there are no proof of it, writings in bible that explicitly teach it, nor I can see any impact of it on our spiritual growth. I think that it's much better to spend all those energy and fund raised for the sake of purgatory and use it for helping other people in the world and spread the gospel further.