Why do Protestants reject Purgatory?

The Protestant Reformers rejected Purgatory for several reasons: they held that justification is by faith alone and that the merits of Christ's Sacrifice are applied fully and immediately to the believer, leaving no room for temporal punishment after death; they rejected the deuterocanonical books (including 2 Maccabees) as non-canonical; and they were reacting, understandably, against the severe abuses connected with indulgences. The Catholic Church maintains that the doctrine is founded on Scripture (rightly understood), on the unbroken Tradition of the Fathers, and on the solemn definitions of three ecumenical councils — and that the correction of abuses does not invalidate the doctrine that was abused.