> Confirmation seems to be the Roman Catholic equivalent of the baptism others have described here; it is when you consciously, as an adult, make the decision to become a spiritual member of the church.

This is mostly correct, but with one difference. Most non-Catholic Christian faiths believe as Grishny, Sam, or whitehelm do: That baptism is simply a symbolic act. According to the teachings of the Catholic Church (and many Episcopalians), the sacraments are not mere signs, they do not simply signify divine grace, "but in virtue of their Divine institution, they cause that grace in the souls of men".

Non-Catholics see baptism as something one does after one accepts Christ. By being baptised in front of the community (or even in front of one community member), the non-Catholic baptism is nothing more than a gesture that says "I believe."

I would guess that many Catholics don't realize the difference between Catholic and non-Catholic sacraments (aside from the whole transubstantiation/consubstantiation aspect of the Sacrament of the Eucharist). Heck, I didn't until about twenty minutes ago.

I'm not even going to attempt to touch the purgatory comment aside from saying if you really want to understand purgatory -- or anything else about the Roman Catholic faith -- the best person to talk to would be a Roman Catholic Priest.

-FP

(Above quote from NewAdvent.org -- the online Catholic encyclopedia.)