Abuses of Indulgences
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In 1517 the practise of the Roman Catholic Church in granting indulgences provoked Martin Luther into a watershed event in the history of the Protestant Reformation. Luther's actions were based on what he saw as the abuse of Indulgences.
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[edit] Abuses
It may seem strange that the doctrine of indulgences should have proved such a stumbling-block, and excited so much prejudice and opposition. But the explanation of this may be found in the abuses which unhappily have been associated with what is in itself a salutary practice. In this respect of course, indulgences are not exceptional: no institution, holy or otherwise, has entirely escaped abuse through the fallibility of the people behind it. In light of the inherent flaws of man, it is not surprising that the offer of pardon in the form of an indulgence should have led to evil practices. These again have been in a special way the object of attack because, doubtless, of their connection with Luther's protest. On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that the Church - while holding fast to the principle and intrinsic value of indulgences - has repeatedly condemned their misuse. Roman Catholics assert that much of the present knowledge of the abuses of indulgences stems from internal (Catholic) investigations into them.
[edit] Responses from the Catholic Church
Even in the age of the martyrs, as stated above there were practices which St. Cyprian was obliged to reprehend, yet he did not forbid the martyrs to give the libelli [citation needed]. In later times abuses were met by repressive measures on the part of the Church. Thus the 747 Council of Clovesho in England condemns those who believe that the purchase of indulgences would absolve them of their sin. Against the excessive indulgences granted by some prelates, the 1215 Fourth Council of the Lateran decreed that at the dedication of a church, the indulgence should not be for more than year; and furthermore, for the anniversary of the dedication or any other case, that it should not exceed forty days, this being the limit observed by the pope himself on such occasions. The same restriction was enacted by the Council of Ravenna in 1317. In answer to the complaint of the Dominicans and Franciscans that certain prelates had put their own construction on the indulgences granted to these Orders, Pope Clement IV forbade any such interpretation in 1268. He declared that, when it was needed, it would be given by the Holy See. In 1330, the brothers of the hospital of Haut-Pas falsely asserted that the grants made in their favor were more extensive than what the documents allowed: Pope John XXII had all these brothers in France seized and imprisoned. Pope Boniface IX, writing to the Bishop of Ferrara in 1392, condemned the practice of certain holy men who falsely claimed to be authorized by the Pope to forgive all sorts of sins, and exacted money from the simple-minded among the faithful by promising them perpetual happiness in this world and eternal glory in the next. In 1420, when Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, attempted to give a plenary indulgence in the form of the Roman Jubilee, he was severely reprimanded by Martin V, who characterized his action as "unheard-of presumption and sacrilegious audacity." In 1450, Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, Apostolic Legate to Germany, found some preachers asserting that indulgences released from the guilt of sin as well as from the punishment. At the Council of Magdeburg, Nicholas also condemned this error, which had stemmed from a misunderstanding or mistranslation of the Latin words "a culpa et a poena." Finally, in 1478, Sixtus IV reserved for the judgment of the Holy See a large number of cases in which faculties had formerly been granted to confessors (Extrav. Com., tit. de poen. et remiss.).
[edit] Traffic in Indulgences
These measures show plainly that the Roman Catholic Church recognized and attempted to mitigate abuses of indulgences long before the Protestant Reformation with varying degrees of success. However, it is clear that despite In spite of all this, disorders continued and furnished the pretext for attacks directed against the doctrine itself, no less than against the practice of indulgences. As in so many other matters, greed was the chief root of the problem: indulgences were employed by mercenary ecclesiastics as a means of pecuniary gain. It should be noted that the Vatican claims that the doctrine itself has no natural or necessary connection with pecuniary profit, which they claim is evident from the fact that the abundant indulgences of the present day are free from this association- the only conditions required are the saying of certain prayers or the performance of some good work or some practice of piety. Among the good works which might be encouraged by being made the condition of an indulgence, alms giving would naturally hold a conspicuous place, while men would be induced by the same means to contribute to some pious cause such as the building of churches, the endowment of hospitals, or the organization of a crusade. Although in these acts, there is no inherent evil, misunderstandings compounded greed to produce evil acts. On one hand there was the understandable danger that the payment might be regarded as the price of the indulgence, and that those who sought to gain it might lose sight of the more important intangible conditions. On the other hand, those who granted indulgences were often tempted to make them a means of raising money- moreover, even where Catholic officials were free from blame in this matter, there was substantial room for corruption in their officials and agents, and among the popular preachers of indulgences.
While it cannot be denied that these abuses were widespread, it should also be noted that, even when corruption was at its worst, some these spiritual grants were being properly used by sincere Christians. The Council of Trent, which was largely a response to the actions of Luther and the Protestant Reformation, in its decree "On Indulgences" (Sess. XXV) declared:
"In granting indulgences the Council desires that moderation be observed in accordance with the ancient approved custom of the Church, lest through excessive ease ecclesiastical discipline be weakened; and further, seeking to correct the abuses that have crept in . . . it decrees that all criminal gain therewith connected shall be entirely done away with as a source of grievous abuse among the Christian people; and as to other disorders arising from superstition, ignorance, irreverence, or any cause whatsoever--since these, on account of the widespread corruption, cannot be removed by special prohibitions--the Council lays upon each bishop the duty of finding out such abuses as exist in his own diocese, of bringing them before the next provincial synod, and of reporting them, with the assent of the other bishops, to the Roman Pontiff, by whose authority and prudence measures will be taken for the welfare of the Church at large, so that the benefit of indulgences may be bestowed on all the faithful by means at once pious, holy, and free from corruption."
After deploring the fact that, in spite of the remedies prescribed by earlier councils, the traders (quaestores) in indulgences continued their nefarious practice to the great scandal of the faithful, the council ordained that the name and method of these quaestores should be entirely abolished, and that indulgences and other spiritual favors of which the faithful ought not to be deprived should be published by the bishops and bestowed gratuitously, so that all might at length understand that these heavenly treasures were dispensed for the sake of piety and not of lucre (Sess. XXI, c. ix). In 1567 St. Pius V canceled all grants of indulgences involving any fees or other financial transactions.
[edit] Apocryphal Indulgences
One of the worst abuses was that of inventing or falsifying grants of indulgence. Prior to the Reformation, such practices abounded and called out severe pronouncements by ecclesiastical authority, especially by the Fourth Council of the Lateran in 1215 and that of Vienne in 1311. After the Council of Trent, the most important measure taken to prevent such frauds was the establishment of the Congregation of Indulgences. A special commission of cardinals served under Clement VIII and Paul V, regulating all matters pertaining to indulgences. The Congregation of Indulgences was definitively established by Clement IX in 1669 and reorganized by Clement XI in 1710. It has functioned to decide various questions relating to the granting of indulgences and by its publications. The "Raccolta" (q.v.) was first issued by one of its consultors, Telesforo Galli, in 1807; the last three editions 1877, 1886, and 1898 were published by the Congregation. The other official publication is the "Decreta authentica", containing the decisions of the Congregation from 1668 to 1882. This was published in 1883 by order of Leo XIII. By a Motu Proprio of Pius X, dated 28 January 1904, the Congregation of Indulgences was united to the Congregation of Rites, without any diminution of its prerogatives.
[edit] References
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
