An actual conversation in my house.

[demiurgent]

Eric: So... the Catholic Church is re-emphasizing--

Weds: Plenary indulgences. Yes. I know.

Eric: But... wait. Plenary indulgences reduce your time in Purgatory. They have no impact on Hell.

Weds: And?

Eric: Didn't they abolish the very concept of Purgatory like a year ago?

Weds: It's back. In Pog form.

Comments

[interlocutron.livejournal.com]

Oh, I thought indulgences were for saving your bacon. Now it doesn't seem so ridiculous.

Well, except for the part about wasting material rewards on reducing the wait time before you get your infinite stay in Heaven. Wouldn't you rather live it up and consider Purgatory your last intersting life experience? After all, it's probably going to be the first time in years that you can lift and carry that much weight.

[elvedril.livejournal.com]

except for the part about wasting material rewards on reducing the wait time before you get your infinite stay in Heaven

Wasting material rewards? As the article states very clearly, indulgences are not bought, they're given for meeting a set of criteria.

[interlocutron.livejournal.com]

I say time is money, so it still counts as material rewards.

Also, I was too lazy to look up just what a plenary indulgence required. :D

[demiurgent.livejournal.com]

But it's an understandable conflation -- for most lay people, indulgences refer back to the medieval practice of selling indulgences for gold. While the modern system's an attempt to bring... well, a modern sense of bookkeeping to the process of reducing the burden of venal sin, essentially, and doesn't actually involve indulgence for cash, that's what a lot of people will believe when they first hear the term.

[redneckgaijin.livejournal.com]

No kidding.

My first thought on reading your post (since I can't be bothered to register with the NYTimes) was: First anti-Semitism, then placing gay-bashing over anti-torture, and now selling indulgences? Is Ratzinger actually TRYING to destroy the Catholic Church?

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

No, just trying to turn back time to when it was The Only Game In Town.