For the entire Christian world to be ignorant of the inexistence of Purgatory for 1500 years is even more incredible.
Christ's bodily assumption into heaven was believed immediately by all those who had been given faith in Him.
Chapter and verse please?
"For the entire Christian world to be ignorant of the inexistence of Purgatory for 1500 years is even more incredible."
Purgatory is in the Gospels.
When Jesus refers to the dead being cast into Gehenna (Gehinnom in Hebrew) he is referring to the Jewish concept of Hell. Jewish Hell is not Christian Hell. It is not eternal, except for the very worst sinners. It is, rather, a place of torment and purification. Jesus didn't spend any time DEFINING Gehinnom to his Jewish audience, because they all knew (and know) what it was (and is).
Jewish Hell - Gehinnom - is Catholic Purgatory AND Protestant Hell, all rolled into one. Gehenna is the Aramaic word for it. "Purgatorio" is the Latin word for the same concept. A hell of purification for souls that have died in sin, with most eventually passing on to Gan Eden - Paradise - after purification.
Purgatory is in the Bible. It's just not obvious to a Christian, because "Gehenna", in addition to being a literal place, is also a spiritual concept in Judaism. The Jews Jesus was addressing when he spoke of Gehinnom knew he was talking about the Hell of Purification. Gentiles, later, called that "Purgatory", and distinguished it from Hell. Jews didn't. And don't. And Jesus didn't, because he was talking to Jews, and he didn't correct or amend it.
Purgatory is in the Bible. So is Hell. They're the same place: Gehenna.
Catholics and Protestants both have it wrong, because they do not properly understand Judaism. Jesus did, and he used the Jewish term, and didn't modify it.