The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has followed the lead of
Pope Francis in offering indulgences for those who follow him on
Twitter.
There was widespread head-scratching earlier in the week at the
announcement by the Vatican that the Papal court handling pardons for
sins had ruled that contrite Catholics could gain ‘indulgences’ by following World Youth Day on Twitter.
The Anglican model is slightly different, as the doctrine of
Purgatory and Indulgences are among those doctrines which the Church of
England has discarded since its break from Rome.
However, Archbishop
Welby, sensing an opportunity for an easy win to please his home crowd,
has ruled that PCC members who follow @ABCJustin or @LambethPalace
on Twitter will be able to download a voucher allowing them to leave
PCC meetings after the first 90 minutes, even if they are the vicar.
A spokesperson for the Church of England said, “Like the Orthodox
Church, we do not have a doctrine of Purgatory in the Church of England.
Our official line
is that this Roman idea ‘is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded
upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of
God’. However, the Pope’s concept of Twitter-bribes to get his follower
count up looked good to us. Who among the Anglican flock has not been
trapped in an epic PCC meeting where having what amounts to a ‘Go home
or to the pub’ card from the Archbishop of Canterbury would not have
been a blessed relief from torment?.”