Criminals Wanted

In 1517, Martin Luther confronted Catholicism and the Pope (Leo X, whom he considered the Anti-Christ) by posting his famous 95 Theses on the doors of Wittenberg Castle Church, sparking the Protestant Reformation. Attempting to re-align Christianity back along strictly faith- and scripture-based lines, he was particularly critical of the sale of indulgences, which essentially amounted to bought salvation and forgiveness for past sins. This fund raising tactic of the Catholic Church was particularly applicable in cases of souls in Purgatory, where souls of dead otherwise remained before eventually ascending into Heaven, or descending into Hell. Already a bit fickle with planes of existence (in 2006, the Catholic Church got rid of the untidy and poorly-named Limbo, once the ethereal daycare for inconveniently unbaptized and dead babies), the idea of financial transactions on Earth affecting these planes has come and gone.

And come back again. There had been an agreement to greatly reduce the number of indulgences granted in this fashion in the Second Vatican Council from 1962-65, extending the damage to the concept for those who grudgingly stuck with Catholicism during the Reformation. In December 2007, though, Pope Benedict explicitly offered plenary indulgences on the 150^th anniversary of the Virgin Mary appearing to a peasant girl in Lourdes, France. A visit to the shrine between February 2^nd and 11^th of this year would have cleared you of your ill deeds. Check out the video below for further details.

Catholicism has a long history of playing involved intermediary roles between its adherents and the afterlife. That said, there has been a decline in Church-going and general religious practice in recent years, complemented by a sharp increase in non-religious thinking. In a time increasingly accommodating to atheist world views, the overt sale of Catholic indulgences has dangerous potential among fence-sitting Catholics who wish to maintain ties with the divine amidst growing concerns over Papal policy on contraception, gay rights, and other pertinent contemporary issues. As religious affiliation and the actual daily practice of religious life diverge, unfavorable Church activity outside of the standard traditions and personal relationships with God can have a “decatholicizing” effect on believers. Considering the difference in Papal social and economic power between centuries ago and today, the Catholic Church faces a tough challenge in reminding its believers that the institution is a necessary part of the package. Specifically with a decline in ritual, this task becomes all the more difficult.

Surely, the perceived consequences of indulgences were weighted in this most recent offering, and the cost-benefit analysis was judged in overall Catholic favor. The truth of that analysis will emerge soon enough. The spirit of an indulgence, and indeed any pardon, is forgiveness. While a government pardon isn’t exactly free either, there’s something strange about any kind of brokered deal for a pure and divine forgiveness concept. For many non-believers, it just looks like criminals pardoning sinners.