For those of you not about in the 16th Century, here’s a bit of a re-cap on how indulgences worked with-in the Catholic Church.
Sinner 'X' would approach his local priest and ask for continued permission to indulge in the sin of his choice – let’s say fucking sheep.
For a certain fee (animal sex, would be on the higher scale one expects), the priest would absolve the sinner for punishment in the afterlife.
Thus the Church turned a blind-eye to a range of sins – for a fee.
The practice of indulgences was so corrupt, you could be half-absolved for half price!
Sinners, who took the cheap route, endured extra time in purgatory for being stingy.
It was a great little money-spinner for The Catholic Church, who cared little about the duplicitous nature of sanctifying a range of sins as long as the palms were greased, and Rome’s strict quota’s made.
Well I’m guessing The Catholic Church must be down to their last thousand trillion dollars, because after 150 years on the outer, ‘indulgences’ are now making a come-back.
So what is the official Catholic Church line, on why indulgences are coming to a local church near you?
According to Bishop DiMarzio of Brooklyn, one of the first Churches to readopt the medieval practice, it’s “because there is sin in the world.”
Rather than being simply a money-making exercise, apparently this turn-around is because it “restores the fading traditions of penance”.
It’s also been re-packaged & marketed as “The Blessing of Indulgences” (the bribe that lasts more than ones life-time)
Sinner 'X' would approach his local priest and ask for continued permission to indulge in the sin of his choice – let’s say fucking sheep.
For a certain fee (animal sex, would be on the higher scale one expects), the priest would absolve the sinner for punishment in the afterlife.
Thus the Church turned a blind-eye to a range of sins – for a fee.
The practice of indulgences was so corrupt, you could be half-absolved for half price!
Sinners, who took the cheap route, endured extra time in purgatory for being stingy.
It was a great little money-spinner for The Catholic Church, who cared little about the duplicitous nature of sanctifying a range of sins as long as the palms were greased, and Rome’s strict quota’s made.
Well I’m guessing The Catholic Church must be down to their last thousand trillion dollars, because after 150 years on the outer, ‘indulgences’ are now making a come-back.
So what is the official Catholic Church line, on why indulgences are coming to a local church near you?
According to Bishop DiMarzio of Brooklyn, one of the first Churches to readopt the medieval practice, it’s “because there is sin in the world.”
Rather than being simply a money-making exercise, apparently this turn-around is because it “restores the fading traditions of penance”.
It’s also been re-packaged & marketed as “The Blessing of Indulgences” (the bribe that lasts more than ones life-time)
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