Indulgences, which give Catholics time off Purgatory for good behaviour, are making a comeback under Pope Benedict XVI.In the past year, the Vatican has granted them for World Youth Day, the 150th anniversary of the Virgin Mary's apparition at Lourdes and, most recently, the 2,000th anniversary of St. Paul's birth.
The renewed enthusiasm for the controversial practice is being felt here.
Ottawa's archbishop, Terrence Prendergast, is encouraging area Catholics to celebrate St. Paul by going for the indulgences; going so far as to issue a press release recently spelling out how to get one.
People don't need to apply for spiritual passes at any church or register their intentions with their priests. And it's probably worth adding that they do not need to pay for the indulgences, either directly or indirectly.
It may be the only time that donations are not welcome in the church.
Still, what do these spiritual measures really do? Could someone seriously bring these get-out-of-jail cards to the Pearly Gates?
"You can imagine the cartoon that would make," admits Rev. Pierre Ingram, director of priestly formation for the Companions of the Cross in Ottawa.
In fact, the rules and language around indulgences were modernized by Pope Paul VI in 1967.
"Modern people just do not take kindly to this very minute accounting system. There needs to be simplicity and personal freedom as well. It used to be measured in things like, '200 days off Purgatory,' which no one took literally because -- you know -- what's a day in Purgatory?" said Father Ingram. "But it was an attempt to show an order of magnitude."
According to church rules, a penitent can seek the indulgence for himself or a deceased person by going to confession, receiving communion, distancing himself from sinfulness, praying for the pope's intentions and honouring the holy event or person for whom the indulgence was named.
The young people at World Youth Day could get an indulgence for making the trip.
Pilgrims to Lourdes could get an indulgence for visiting the site in France where the Virgin appeared to several peasant children in 1858.
For the year of St. Paul, penitents can go to his basilica in Rome or visit any church named for him. In Ottawa, this will be a challenge: the only suitable Catholic church or chapel is at Saint Paul University, which is not readily open to the public.
But not to worry. Penitents can worship on particular dates to gain the indulgence: the opening and closing of Paul's year on June 29, 2008, and June 29, 2009, respectively; the anniversary of the dedication of the Roman basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul on Nov. 18, 2008; the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25, 2009, and the Ottawa archdiocese feast day June 25, 2009.
The practice first fell into disrepute in the 15th century when indulgences were sold to pay for St. Peter's basilica in Rome. According to a saying of the day: "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from Purgatory springs."
In response to these abuses, Martin Luther fired off his 95 theses, more formally known as The Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, which in turn sparked the Reformation when the Protestant churches broke away from Rome.
The Catholic Church, in turn, condemned anyone who didn't believe in indulgences and the teaching is still considered infallible, meaning Catholics are not at liberty to disbelieve. However, indulgences did fall into disuse in recent decades.
When Pope John Paul II reintroduced the practice in 2000, "it captured people's attention," said Father Igram. Many people didn't realize the church still subscribed to them, and others were dismayed. Many Protestants -- Lutherans in particular -- responded, "Are you Catholics still harping about this stuff?' Wasn't this why we had a Reformation?"
The media have sneered at the recent practice, poking fun at its vaguely mercantile flavour. Tom Shields wrote about the Lourdes indulgences in Scotland's Sunday Herald: "The special offer, which is valid at any participating shrine until Dec. 8 next year, is to mark the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes. ... Do not hang about in Heaven's detention centre; proceed directly to the Pearly Gates."
Catholic theologians explain the thinking behind indulgences like this:
Our souls suffer eternally when we sin, but we suffer temporally too, in that we hurt other people, and ourselves when we do evil.
If we repent, God forgives us, but we must still pay the price. Like a child who has stolen a candy bar and confesses to a parent, we are back in the good books, but we still must pay the shopkeeper. Similarly, we pay for the damage we do through sin, either on earth or in Purgatory.
In an indulgence, God allows the pope to draw on the goodness of the Jesus and the saints, paying the "shopkeeper" in our stead and letting us off the hook for the suffering.
Father Ingram says there does not seem to be a massive movement of people rushing to gain indulgences; for one thing, not too many people really know about them these days.
They are quite straightforward and simple, he says. They show that a good Christian life doesn't have to be a slog.
"All of these things are within the realm of the ordinary person."
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