Another interesting Catholic matter, at least to me, that concerns Pope Benedict’s “road back to the Middle Ages” or “roll back Vatican II” campaign, is the “restoration” or bringing back of INDULGENCES.
Many of today’s Catholics have no idea what indulgences are. I can’t remember being taught about indulgences in my Catholic classes but I may have. I do know about them through my study of history, in this case Martin Luther and the Protestant Revolution.
Historically, Catholics were required to confess their sins to a priest; repent, get absolution and a penalty (penance) to perform. Once this process was complete you could get “extra” points in the form of indulgences if you performed certain specified “good” deeds.
Why would you want these extra points (indulgences)? Well, these indulgences would lessen the time all of us would spend in “purgatory” being made ready (cleaned) before being allowed to enter heaven; I though the Church disavowed the existence of Purgatory but I may be wrong.
OK, the fact that I am even addressing such absurdities must give you pause but I am just discussing the way Pope Benedict has undertaken to move the Catholic Church backwards in time and indulgences were part of that time.
Martin Luther objected to the sale of indulgences by the Vatican. They were not actually selling the indulgences but they would grant you or whomever you specified (your recently deceased relative) an indulgence (get out of purgatory fast pass) if you contributed a certain sum of money say to the building of a new Vatican church.
Luther took exception to the practice he felt was unconscionable. A jingle from those days used when selling indulgences was “When the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs” – catchy, no?
Well that practice was banned soon after Luther objected but the deed was done and so it remains in our history books as a cause of the Protestant Reformation.
Today, indulgences can be earned (after confession & penance) for services to the community or for visiting a certain church shrine, etc. I don’t know all the particulars but it appears that Benedict wants Catholics to get back to doing confessions which have all but disappeared from the Church scene and to encourage more confessing what better than an indulgence to shorten your stay in purgatory.
Why? Well I think Benedict feels we have gone too far in the direction of “self salvation”. He wants the priests and the Church back into active participation in flock salvation.
Many learned Catholics (even clerics) are against this “restorationist” movement of Benedict because it closes the window to the light that Vatican II let into the faith and encourages a return to darkness and superstition.
I am thinking that Benedict has a plan to move the Church backwards and he wants to do as much as possible to facilitate that movement before he dies. He also has probably picked his successor that will continue to move the Church in the same direction. This is getting quite interesting and the choosing of the next Pope will be historic for many reasons including possibly a dramatic shift in Church philosophy.
Benedict was so anxious to roll back Vatican II that he re-instated a Cardinal that denied the Holocaust. Embarrassingly, he had to take it all back but you can understand his haste; he is pretty old and much work is still to be done.
Many of today’s Catholics have no idea what indulgences are. I can’t remember being taught about indulgences in my Catholic classes but I may have. I do know about them through my study of history, in this case Martin Luther and the Protestant Revolution.
Historically, Catholics were required to confess their sins to a priest; repent, get absolution and a penalty (penance) to perform. Once this process was complete you could get “extra” points in the form of indulgences if you performed certain specified “good” deeds.
Why would you want these extra points (indulgences)? Well, these indulgences would lessen the time all of us would spend in “purgatory” being made ready (cleaned) before being allowed to enter heaven; I though the Church disavowed the existence of Purgatory but I may be wrong.
OK, the fact that I am even addressing such absurdities must give you pause but I am just discussing the way Pope Benedict has undertaken to move the Catholic Church backwards in time and indulgences were part of that time.
Martin Luther objected to the sale of indulgences by the Vatican. They were not actually selling the indulgences but they would grant you or whomever you specified (your recently deceased relative) an indulgence (get out of purgatory fast pass) if you contributed a certain sum of money say to the building of a new Vatican church.
Luther took exception to the practice he felt was unconscionable. A jingle from those days used when selling indulgences was “When the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs” – catchy, no?
Well that practice was banned soon after Luther objected but the deed was done and so it remains in our history books as a cause of the Protestant Reformation.
Today, indulgences can be earned (after confession & penance) for services to the community or for visiting a certain church shrine, etc. I don’t know all the particulars but it appears that Benedict wants Catholics to get back to doing confessions which have all but disappeared from the Church scene and to encourage more confessing what better than an indulgence to shorten your stay in purgatory.
Why? Well I think Benedict feels we have gone too far in the direction of “self salvation”. He wants the priests and the Church back into active participation in flock salvation.
Many learned Catholics (even clerics) are against this “restorationist” movement of Benedict because it closes the window to the light that Vatican II let into the faith and encourages a return to darkness and superstition.
I am thinking that Benedict has a plan to move the Church backwards and he wants to do as much as possible to facilitate that movement before he dies. He also has probably picked his successor that will continue to move the Church in the same direction. This is getting quite interesting and the choosing of the next Pope will be historic for many reasons including possibly a dramatic shift in Church philosophy.
Benedict was so anxious to roll back Vatican II that he re-instated a Cardinal that denied the Holocaust. Embarrassingly, he had to take it all back but you can understand his haste; he is pretty old and much work is still to be done.
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