The Significance of Indulgences
So to summarize the situation, indulgences were one of the major sources of financial and moral corruption in the Catholic church of the middle ages. Indulgences were also the direct cause of Martin Luther's break with the church, and hence one of the major causes of the Reformation.
It wasn't just the corruption that the Protestants objected to. Luther specifically objected to the very idea of indulgences, and as Flick writes on page 450 of his book:
"Nor is it correct to contend that the Reformation was directed only against the abuse of indulgences, for both the use and abuse were condemned."
That's why I suspect that the granting of indulgences by today's Pope will widen the split between Lutherans and Catholics. Is that a good thing? Well, my view is that the more time Christians spend attacking each other, the more likely they are to leave atheists alone.
Moral Implications
So, ignoring the possibility of corruption, what's wrong with indulgences?
Well, it seems clear to me that they make a mockery of what's commonly known as 'Christian morality'. Think about it. You can sin, attend confession and Eucharist to get unquestioning forgiveness from God, and then effectively buy your way out of the punishment you're due. You don't even have to feel guilty about whatever it was that you did once you've confessed! And although the act performed as part of getting the indulgence is notionally punishment for the sin, come on, who views visiting Rome as a punishment? If someone will pay for the plane tickets, I'm quite happy to be punished right now...
Supposedly those who seen indulgences must be truly penitent of their sins. Even so, indulgences open a loophole in the Christian moral code that's big enough to drive a truck through. The irony is that Christians often ask atheists "So, if you don't get punished for your sins, why don't you lie, cheat and steal the whole time?" Perhaps in future they should ask the Roman Catholic church? Apparently it's possible for Christians to sin and not get punished too.
This time, indulgences are being granted to those who go on a pilgrimage to Rome. Clearly there are plenty of Catholics who can't afford the air fare--so are we expected to believe that the rich have an advantage over the poor in the afterlife? That a rich man and a poor man could commit the same sin, but the rich man might escape punishment because he could afford to visit the Vatican? Yes, there are other options for obtaining the indulgence--but money makes them all more convenient. What kind of a moral message is that? As Martin Luther pointed out, it's not just the corruption and abuse that's a moral issue--it's the whole idea of indulgences in the first place.
It's all very strange. The Pope almost apologized for the Catholic church's persecution of Galileo. The Church was even contemplating an official apology for the Crusades. Then suddenly, for no apparent reason, they bring back to prominence a practice which had been heavily criticized since the Middle Ages, and which had been used to promote the same crusades they were thinking of apologizing for. And the Pope has justified the decision with some vague comments about it being the end of the millennium. It's not hard to see why many Catholics were astounded, amused, even embarrassed.
You might be thinking that perhaps this time it will be different. That maybe these days the Catholic church is less likely to grant blessings and dispensations to the morally suspect. Well, consider that in 1993 Pope John Paul II issued a pontifical autograph which bestowed "a special apostolic blessing as a token of abundant divine graces". The honored recipient? None other than General Augusto Pinochet. A telegram written by Cardinal Angelo Sodano stated that "His Holiness cherishes moving memories of the meeting he had with the members of your family on the occasion of his extraordinary pastoral visit to Chile in 1987". Sodano was charmed by Pinochet too, writing "I would like to take this opportunity of expressing once again the highest esteem in which I hold your Excellency". Heartwarming stuff.
Further Reading:
Historical information:
The Decline of the Medieval Church
Volumes 1 and 2
Written by Alexander Clarence Flick
Published by Burt Franklin, NY
The Pope's high esteem for Pinochet:
Private Eye (issue 969, February 5th 1999)
Present day indulgences:
Enchiridion of Indulgences, Norms and Grants, Authorized English Edition translated from the second revised Edition of the "Enchiridion Indulgentiarum" issued by the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, 1968"
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