The Cahtolic Curch offers an easier way to Heaven....

According to an article in the New York Times, the Catholic Church is now, once again, offering Plenary Indulgences. Really!? According to the Church you can't buy an indulgence, therefore you aren't really "buying" your way into Heaven. Hmmmm - I have to think about it.

For those of you who don't know what this is:

"According to church teaching, even after sinners are absolved in the confessional and say their Our Fathers or Hail Marys as penance, they still face punishment after death, in Purgatory, before they can enter heaven. In exchange for certain prayers, devotions or pilgrimages in special years, a Catholic can receive an indulgence, which reduces or erases that punishment instantly, with no formal ceremony or sacrament.
There are partial indulgences, which reduce purgatorial time by a certain number of days or years, and plenary indulgences, which eliminate all of it, until another sin is committed. You can get one for yourself, or for someone who is dead. You cannot buy one — the church outlawed the sale of indulgences in 1567 — but charitable contributions, combined with other acts, can help you earn one. There is a limit of one plenary indulgence per sinner per day."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/nyregion/10indulgence.html?_r=2&em

Also for those who don't know... this was done before and the results were not good for the Catholic Church (Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, anyone?).

The article explains that part of what prompted this was a serious decline in people going to confession. The indulgences are meant to offer an incentive for people to go to confession - but at least they "aren't selling them anymore" (Rev. Tom Reese, from the article). I guess not, but still seems like a bribe to get people to do what the Church wants them to do.

I did find this to be very interesting: "After Catholics, the people most expert on the topic are probably Lutherans, whose church was born from the schism over indulgences and whose leaders have met regularly with Vatican officials since the 1960s in an effort to mend their differences. “It has been something of a mystery to us as to why now,” said the Rev. Dr. Michael Root, dean of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, S.C., who has participated in those meetings. The renewal of indulgences, he said, has “not advanced” the dialogue. “Our main problem has always been the question of quantifying God’s blessing,” Dr. Root said. Lutherans believe that divine forgiveness is a given, but not something people can influence."

And isn't this telling:
"But for Catholic leaders, most prominently the pope, the focus in recent years has been less on what Catholics have in common with other religious groups than on what sets them apart — including the half-forgotten mystery of the indulgence." What does that really say about the Catholic Church

Something else interesting from the article: "To remain in good standing, Catholics are required to confess their sins at least once a year." I don't ever remember learning that growing up and I've got 10 years of Catholic School under my belt. But who knows maybe it is true... guess that would answer another question for me, wouldn't it?

Regardless of whether it's right or wrong and I'm not going judge it here; It just seems to me that if the Catholic Church can randomly decide whose going to heaven and how quickly they will get there... then they could allow me to stand up for Chloe for her confirmation without jumping through hoops... hmmm, maybe I should offer them a charitable contribution (wow - that was kind of nasty, wasn't it?).