The Sacred Sandwich

February9th

6 Comments

Heaven Moves One Step Closer for Catholics

Posted in: Side Dishes

The announcement in church bulletins and on Web sites has been greeted with enthusiasm by some and wariness by others. But mainly, it has gone over the heads of a vast generation of Roman Catholics who have no idea what it means: “Bishop Announces Plenary Indulgences.”

In recent months, dioceses around the world have been offering Catholics a spiritual benefit that fell out of favor decades ago — the indulgence, a sort of amnesty from punishment in the afterlife — and reminding them of the church’s clout in mitigating the wages of sin.

Read the rest here:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/10/america/10indulgence.php

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6 Comments

  • Comment by Michael A. Albert — February 10, 2009 @ 12:33 am

    Gee, and to think I have been falling on my knees at the foot of the cross to ask Jesus to forgive me of my sins and all the time I could have just asked the Pope to put in a good word for me.

  • Comment by MickeyJim — February 10, 2009 @ 5:14 am

    Jesus: So why did you send me to die when all they needed were plenary indulgences?
    The Father: I dunno, I didn’t really think it through, I guess.

  • Comment by Bobby — February 10, 2009 @ 8:50 am

    With the financial situation being what it is, I wonder if they’ll run a special deal on the sin of stealing. Or, with the human heart being what it is, maybe a weekend special on adultery.

  • Comment by Manfred — February 10, 2009 @ 8:54 am

    This is truly sad. How it the must grieve almighty God to have His name profaned in this manner. Consider the sad state of the Roman church, from page 2 of the article:

    One recent afternoon outside Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Forest Hills, Queens, two church volunteers disagreed on the relevance of indulgences for modern Catholics.

    Octavia Andrade, 64, laughed as she recalled a time when children would race through the rosary repeatedly to get as many indulgences as they could — usually in increments of 5 or 10 years — “as if we needed them, then.”

    Still, she supports their reintroduction. “Anything old coming back, I’m in favor of it,” she said. “More fervor is a good thing.”

    Karen Nassauer, 61, said she was baffled by the return to a practice she never quite understood to begin with.

    “I mean, I’m not saying it is necessarily wrong,” she said. “What does it mean to get time off in Purgatory? What is five years in terms of eternity?”

  • Comment by Frank — February 15, 2009 @ 3:52 am

    I was born and raised in a very staunch Roman Catholic home.

    In doctrine Roman Catholicism has never budged one iota.

    The current pope held the position of “Defender Of The Faith”, formerly know as “The Inquisition.”

    “As Defender of the Faith, it was Cardinal Ratzinger’s duty and responsibility to make sure that the teachings of the Church were clearly expressed and defended against the onslaughts of modern civilization.”

    Source: http://www.osv.com/OSV4MeNav/TheHolyFathers/PopeBenedictXVI/FactSheet/tabid/130/Default.aspx

    The more thing change, the more they stay the same.

  • Comment by Linda George — February 24, 2009 @ 2:38 am

    And ‘modern man’ just sucks it all in…

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