Why must we go to purgatory before we can enter heaven when we die ?

and also , how long does purgatory last for ?

To let your understand yourself better.

meditationthai.org

There is a purgatory so the current group can enter only when there is a vacancy.. it lasts for around 12-48 months on average depending on the number of groups and the number of members of each group.. and the constant rate of vacancies..

Our souls have to be perfectly purified before we can enter heaven.

If I remember correctly from catechism when I was a child, it is where a spirit goes after death, and where the darkness in one's soul is purged before going to heaven.

There's no such place. It's another one of those Catholic notions that don't quite make any sense.

There are only two places after you die and you to go to one or the other depending on how you choose to spend your time on Earth; you either go to Heaven or else you go to Hell, simple.
Purgatory was a way the church Catholic forced people to buy "indulgences" on the premise (or should I say promise) that their dead relatives would spend less time in Purgatory.
It was just another way of getting huge sums of money out of ordinary, gullible people.
It was one of the main reasons Martin Luther started the Reformation.at that time the church needed money to build an expensive cathedral in Rome and there were some individuals who aggressively raised money with the promise of less time in purgatory. This was selling the 'excess grace earned by the saints' who 'overachieved heaven' and whose works were part of the treasury of the church. Biblically Jesus said 'in the end you are unprofitable servants' and it is the work of Christ which is the treasury of the church and is sufficient to save. The issue of indulgences became the flash point of the reformation which leads to the idea of salvation by grace through faith by Christ and not by works
His revolutionary ideas served as the catalyst for the eventual breaking away from the Catholic Church and were later instrumental in forming the movement known as the Protestant Reformation. Luther wrote his radical "95 Theses" to express his growing concern with the corruption within the church. In essence, his Theses called for a full reform of the Catholic Church and challenged other scholars to debate with him on matters of church policy.

One of the major issues concerning Luther pertained to the matter of the church officials selling "indulgences" to the people as a means of releasing them from having to exact penitence for their misdeeds. Indulgences were also claimed by the church to limit the amount of time the purchaser's loved one would have to spend in Purgatory.
Luther published his "95 Theses" fully realizing that he faced excommunication and even death for protesting against the traditions and beliefs of the Catholic Church. to do so was considered heresy against God. Luther's "95 Theses" became highly sought after by the populace and were soon translated into German for the common people to read. The printing press then enabled the wide distribution of the Theses, provoking in the people more disenchantment with the ways of the Catholic Church.

In the year 1521, Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church and declared him a heretic. He was so despised by the church that a death warrant was issued, giving anyone permission to kill him. however, Luther was given protection by Prince Frederick of Saxony, a staunch defender of Luther. Hidden in one of Frederick's castles, Luther began producing a translation of the Bible into the German language. ten years later it was finally completed.

Pray, read your Bible, God bless <)))><

After death, each one is judged individually, so it may take a short time, or maybe a long time there.
After the person pay for their sins, she/he come back to the Earth.
If the person is a ious person, than after death, she goes to Heaven.
After expired all credito there, the person come back to the Earth.
Again in the Earth, if a person develops love for God, she goes to live in the Spiritual world with him and never has to born and die again in the material world.

SB 5.26.37: My dear King Parīkṣit, in the province of Yamarāja (the Lord of Death ) there are hundreds and thousands of hellish planets. The impious people I have mentioned — and also those I have not mentioned — must all enter these various planets according to the degree of their impiety. those who are pious, however, enter other planetary systems, namely the planets of the demigods ( Heavens ) . nevertheless, both the pious and impious are again brought to earth after the results of their pious or impious acts are exhausted.

God doesn't like to admit this, but He's actually very proud of the gay community and spends most of his spare time there with the boys.

Why must we go to purgatory before we can enter heaven when we die ?

constant rate, indulgences