Now this is interesting. I go to church to worship God, confess my sins, hear the Scripture and be with Christ. and His angels and saints. It is true that every Mass is offered for somebody, and I join in prayer for his soul at Mass. However, I don't recall saying "Let me go to Mass and pray for Such and Such", -- I learn who it is in the middle of the Eucharistic prayer and not sooner, and it is a complete stranger. When I die somebody will arrange a Mass for my soul. That is about it, -- I am not dead yet and when I pray for the souls in Purgatory, I do it privately every now and then when I say the Rosary. It usually happens as I drive my car. So where is the "enslaving construct"?
Just out of curiosity, do the souls in purgatory pray each other out of purgatory?
Or do they just sit there and hope that someone else does pennance and prayer for them?
And if a priest binds that someone is to be released from Purgatory, is God bound by the priest's declaration?
If a priest declares that Hitler's sins are forgiven, is God bound by that one too?