Rose42

Notice there is no mention of Scripture because this isn't Biblical. The pope can just make things up as he wishes.

This is written by a Catholic priest

So, what exactly is an indulgence? In the words of the Manual of Indulgences, an indulgence is “a remission before God of temporal punishment for sins, whose guilt is forgiven, which a properly disposed member of the Christian faith obtains under certain and clearly defined conditions through the intervention of the Church.”

The key to this is in how the church understands temporal punishment for sins. We believe that sin has consequences that are both eternal (everlasting) and temporal (earthly). In the sacrament of reconciliation, Jesus forgives the eternal consequences of sin, but the temporal consequences remain. A good analogy that helps to explain this is a young boy hitting a baseball through a neighbor’s window. He apologizes and is forgiven. The window, however, is still broken and needs to be fixed. The broken window is the temporal consequence of his action. Purgatory is the place where the temporal consequences of sin are forgiven or purged from us in order to prepare us for heaven.

An indulgence, quite simply, is either a partial or a plenary (complete) remission of these temporal consequences of sin, which the church grants from her treasury of graces. This is great news!

In April, Pope Francis published an apostolic letter, Misericordiae Vultus, announcing the Jubilee Year of Mercy, in which he wrote, “A Jubilee also entails the granting of indulgences. This practice will acquire an even more important meaning in the Holy Year of Mercy. God’s forgiveness knows no bounds. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God makes even more evident his love and its power to destroy all human sin. Reconciliation with God is made possible through the paschal mystery and the mediation of the Church.”

To gain a plenary indulgence during this Holy Year of Mercy, the following is necessary: Have an interior disposition of detachment from all sin, go to confession, receive holy Communion, pray for the Holy Father’s intentions and make a pilgrimage to a basilica or another designated place, such as a cathedral.

Receiving an indulgence is really about receiving God’s mercy and love, which is what this Holy Year of Mercy is all about!

http://www.nwcatholic.org/spirituality/ask-father/catholic-church-belief-in-indulgences.html

bahmer

So let me get this straight. According the Roman Catholic Church Jesus living a sinless life and being tried and punished and eventually crucified for our sins was inadequate for the remission of my sins. God's son Jesus wasn't powerful enough to suffer and die and take my sins from even though in the Bible it says the he is and has done so. According to the Roman Catholic Church we still have to buy our way out of this fictitious place called purgatory so that we can go to heaven. What was that Radiance3 keeps harping on about how money hungry the protestants are and how we are amassing great wealth in the TV ministries and the TV ministers. Hmmm the protestant church isn't stealing from its members by charging them a fee for getting out of some make believe place in the afterlife. That sounds more like a pagan practice in some backward country that would do this not someone that is in the modern world and has the Bible to read for guidance. Oh that's right the Roman Catholic parishioners are allowed to read the Bible but they are not allowed to interpret the Bible only the priest can do that.

Rose42

Quite the scam isn't it. Though they've wrapped it in a prettier package the contents are still ugly.

It gets even weirder. Ever heard of the "holy door" in St. Peter's Basilica? If you walk through it you get a free indulgence from sin. This door is only open at certain times which are determined by the pope. It's only open during "holy years". Can they get more blatantly pagan? If you think I just made this up I found a story on it. There's more and some on Catholic sites.

https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/07/world/pope-holy-doors/

bahmer

This almost sounds like when the angel troubled the waters at the pool of Bethesda and the first one in was healed type of thing but that was scriptural and this is obviously pagan in tradition.

Rose42

And there's more. You'd be surprised at the writings Catholics have on indulgences.

bahmer

No wonder that the Vatican is so filthy rich. They even have their own bank as far as I have read in the past. They are wealthier than any protestant pastor ever dreamed of being with gold toilet handles and everything.

Rose42

Yes they have a bank. This article calls it the "most secret bank in the world".

Italian prosecutors have now detained the former head of the Vatican’s bank after searching his home and former office for suspected criminal behavior. Catholics and followers of the Holy See will be disappointed to learn that the Vatican’s bank appears to be embroiled in yet another financial scandal. After a number of very embarrassing episodes in recent years, the Pope pledged to comply with international standards on illicit finance and clean up the bank’s image. The European Union has an important role to play in helping the Vatican mitigate risk and come into full compliance; the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), set up by the G-7 to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, has a responsibility as well.

The Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), commonly referred to as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held financial institution located inside Vatican City. Founded in 1942, the IOR’s role is to safeguard and administer property intended for works of religion or charity. The bank accepts deposits only from top Church officials and entities, according to Italian legal scholar Settimio Caridi. It is run by a president but overseen by five cardinals who report directly to the Vatican and the Vatican’s secretary of state. Because so little is known about the bank’s daily operations and transactions, it has often been called “the most secret bank in the world.”

-snip
https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2012/06/26/the-vatican-bank-the-most-secret-bank-in-the-world/#68b95c46120b

bahmer

And I suppose that the Vatican Bank only has a $1.98 in it unlike all of those protestant ministers having millions right. And that is all donated to charity and nothing else.

Radiance3

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Of course the Vatican has a bank. The Vatican is an independent country. It has its sovereign rights. That is why countries like the US send Ambassadors to the Vatican.

God deserves all the glory in the Vatican, praises, as His Tabernacle was originally laced with gold.

Adams, Andrew
The gold used in the tabernacle was its most precious ornamentation. As far as the structure of the building proper (not the court or the external items of furniture), this precious metal was seen in almost all the items presented to us therein. Look at each significant item and the meaning of the gold in relation to each. It will be important for us to remember that this tabernacle has its pattern in the heavens, for the Lord showed Moses in the mount something that already existed (Exo 25:9 and 25:40) and the writer of the Hebrews tells us the same message when he writes of “the patterns of things in the heavens” (Heb 9:23).

Here is the history of Vatican.
The Vatican City has its own telephone system, post office, gardens, astronomical observatory, radio station, banking system, and pharmacy, as well as a contingent of Swiss Guards responsible for the personal safety of the pope since 1506.

Almost all supplies—including food, water, electricity, and gas—must be imported. There is no income tax and no restriction on the import or export of funds. As the Holy See, it derives its income from the voluntary contributions of more than one billion Roman Catholics worldwide, as well as interest on investments and the sale of stamps, coins, and publications. Banking operations and expenditures have been reported publicly since the early 1980s.

The period from the 4th century to 1870, the Vatican gained control of territory around Rome and served as capital of the Papal States. In 1929 Vatican City’s independent sovereignty was recognized by the Fascist Italian government in the Lateran Treaty. Sovereignty is exercised by the pope upon his election as the head of the Roman Catholic

It has absolute executive, legislative, and judicial powers within the city. In 1984 a major reshuffle of offices in the Roman Curia resulted in the delegation of the routine administration of Vatican City to a pontifically appointed commission of five cardinals headed by the Secretariat of State. The inhabitants of Vatican City, the majority of whom are priests and nuns, also include several hundred laypersons engaged in secretarial, domestic, trade, and service occupations.

Special extraterritorial privileges are extended to more than 10 other buildings in Rome and to Castel Gandolfo, the pope’s summer residence in the Alban Hills. In addition, Vatican City maintains embassies in numerous foreign nations.

Vatican cultural life has much declined since the Renaissance, when the popes were among Italy’s foremost patrons of the arts. The Vatican Museums and Galleries, the frescoes by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, the frescoes by Pinturicchio in the Borgia Apartment, and Raphael’s Stanze (“Rooms”) nevertheless attract critics, artists, and flocks of tourists from throughout the world. Years of restoration work on the Sistine Chapel frescoes were completed in 1994, making it possible to view Michelangelo’s work in full vibrant colors. In 2000 the millennial Jubilee focused world attention on Vatican City.

The Vatican Apostolic Library contains a priceless collection of some 150,000 manuscripts and 1.6 million printed books, many from pre-Christian and early Christian times. The Vatican publishes its own influential daily newspaper, Observatory Romano, and its press can print books and pamphlets in any of 30 languages, from old Ecclesiastical Georgian to Indian Tamil.

Since 1983 the Vatican has produced its own television programming. Its radio broadcasts are heard in some 40 languages in many parts of the world. Vatican City was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984.

LEARN MORE in these related Britannica articles:

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

In other words, the Vatican is just like the Fake Name it and Claim it TV preachers selling God's Word (using your words)
for a profit! 😂 They have so much money that they need their own bank to hide behind!

bahmer

It is amazing what you can and cannot justify based on where one sits isn't it? If you are a Roman Catholic then the Vatican can do no wrong and neither can the priests but if you are a Christian then the Vatican can do no right. Isn't that true Radiance?

Rose42

Exactly. They also have a pope who can change theology on a whim. He recently gave priests the "authority" to forgive abortions which before could only be done by bishops or special confessors. That isn't even hinted at in the Bible. The corruption starts at the top with the pope.

Praise the Lord that men like Martin Luther, William Tyndale, John Calvin and Charles Spurgeon (to name just a few) have helped to open the eyes of so many people to the false church of Rome.

bahmer

Amen and Amen

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Absolutely!

Radiance3

===============
Sola Scriptura has no place in the world. It is unauthorized by Christ to preach.
Currently Sola Scriptura is an active and profitable enterprise run by 47,000 Pastors and denominations competing each other how to get rich. They have various interpretations.

The true Church is the Catholic Church established by Christ thru Saint Peter.
RE: Matthew 16:18-19.