Catholic Church revives indulgences

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Walter Olson

Another step for de-modernization, and the revival of pre-Vatican II practices. Since 1567 the Church has outlawed the sale of indulgences, “but charitable contributions, combined with other acts, can help you earn one. There is a limit of one plenary indulgence per sinner per day.”

About Walter Olson

Fellow at a think tank in the Northeast specializing in law. Websites include overlawyered.com. Former columnist for Reason and Times Online (U.K.), contributor to National Review, etc.
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6 Responses to Catholic Church revives indulgences

  1. David Hume says:
    February 10, 2009 at 10:58 am

    I thought this was a joke when I saw the headline. My first thought: Paris Hilton walks into a Catholic church and declares that indulgences are “hot.”

  2. Alberto Hurtado says:
    February 10, 2009 at 11:01 am

    Look before you post. Indulgences never went anywhere. Vatican II spoke plenty about them, a book of blessings exists in many languages and indulgences have been offered for a myriad of devotions. So, I’m not sure what the Church exactly revived when indulgences never went anywhere. That’s like having a headline saying, “Boy, the Church now thinks the Pope is a big deal.”

  3. Walter Olson says:
    February 10, 2009 at 11:11 am

    >Look before you post

    I did look before I posted. Did you? “Revival”, the word used in the N.Y. Times article to which I linked, doesn’t mean the thing revived had been stone dead, just that it had been in decline. If something “fell out of favor”, has never been heard of outside history books by many younger church members, etc., etc., then, yes, it’s appropriate to speak of it as being revived.

  4. Ergo Ratio says:
    February 10, 2009 at 3:44 pm

    “…the church outlawed the sale of indulgences in 1567…”

    Maybe they should reverse that one, too. When you lose customers, you need to find out how to squeeze more money out of your existing ones, after all. 😉

    This whole idea that some church authority effectively determines/prognosticates what Yahweh’s punishment for me will be upon my death is laughable.

  5. Peter Korman says:
    February 11, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    Yes. NYT is the first place I always look for accurate characterization of Roman Catholic practice.

  6. CTD says:
    February 13, 2009 at 11:47 am

    Will these indulgences be issued on the form of carbon creditz?

Comments are closed.