We don’t know for sure — maybe someone has a better answer than me.
I would say that the Bible quote Christ to the Good Thief: Today thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”
So where was Paradise at that time?
As far as sin is concerned — I would say that Jesus only descended into hell (Purgatory at that time) to free the captive souls.
Anyone have more substantial info on this?
Explaining Purgatory from a New Testament Perspective [Ecumenical]
PURIFYING THE SOUL ON EARTH IS WORTH 100X WHAT IT TAKES AFTER [Catholic Caucus]
A Brief Catechism for Adults - Lesson 12: Purgatory
The Early Church Fathers on Purgatory - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus
Required for entrance to Purgatory? Personal question for Cathloic Freepers.
(Protestant) Minister Who Had Near-Death Episode Believes In Purgatory
Straight Answers: What Is Purgatory Like?
Do Catholics Believe in Purgatory?
Purgatory, Indulgences, and the Work of Jesus Christ (Discussion)
Prayer to Release the Souls of Purgatory
Actually, Jesus descended into “the Bosom of Abraham,” or the “Limbo of the Fathers,” where the righeous dead were waiting for the coming of the Messiah.
While I had a minute, I did some “digging”
In his Exposition on the Apostles’ Creed, Thomas Aquinas asserts that the first and primary reason Christ descended into hell was “to bear the whole punishment of sin, so that he might wholly expiate sin.”
Question: Christ’s descent into hell
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/4052.htm
- The Limbo of the Patriarchs or Limbo of the Fathers (Latin Limbus Patrum), also the Bosom of Abraham or Paradise, is seen as the temporary state of those who, in spite of the personal sins they may have committed, died in the friendship of God, but could not enter Heaven until redemption by Jesus Christ made it possible. The term "Limbo of the Fathers" was a medieval name for the part of the underworld (Hades) where the patriarchs of the Old Testament were believed to be kept until Christ's soul descended into it by his death[1] through crucifixion and freed them (see Harrowing of hell). The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Christ's descent into "hell" as meaning primarily that "the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead." It adds: "But he descended there as Saviour, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there." It does not use the word "Limbo".[2]