When I was a kid (I've got to be an old fart as I start more and more postings with those five words), getting an indulgence was something to be worked for, as it would mean that you were closer to getting into heaven. Sure, we learned that at one time the Church (the word was always capitalized) raised some extra cash by selling indulgences, but that was all in the past. The way you earned an indulgence (i.e., time off from purgatory) in my day was mainly by praying; a rosary might be worth a couple of years, a spiritual work of mercy another few years, visiting a holy place like Jerusalem earned really scads of time.
The practice seemed to go into disuse but is being brought back with a bang now. I suspect the difficult economic times and a conservative pope are largely responsible for the resurgence of the practice.
1 comment:
"Getting Catholics back into confession, in fact, was one of the motivations for reintroducing the indulgence."
Nothing like a good marketing ploy when tithes are down.
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