Ladies and Gentlemen...

[acroyear]

Welcome back to the 17th Century:

Indulgences Return, and Heaven Moves a Step Closer for Catholics - NYTimes.com:

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.

"sad preacher nailed upon the colored door of time..."

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.

“It faded away with a lot of things in the church,” said Bishop DiMarzio of Brooklyn. “But it was never given up. It was always there. We just want to people to return to the ideas they used to know.”

Did they ever stop to think that maybe the idea faded away because it was a stupid idea in the first place?

Pharyngula: Another crazy Catholic doctrine:

Oh, well, at least they aren't selling get-out-of-purgatory-free cards just yet. When that happens, we'll have to go through another 30 Years War, and once was enough.

Comments

Get out of Purgatory Cards Exist

[blueeowyn.livejournal.com]

http://www.goohf.com/ - fortunately it isn't a church selling them.