Indulgences, which give Catholics time off Purgatory for good behaviour, are making a comeback under Pope Benedict XVI.
The article gets a little better, but you have to get to the end before anything resembling Church teaching starts to get inadequately explained.
2 comments
OK, I only read the first page, but the story is from the Onion isn’t it? That’s not a real story. It can’t be. But then it must be… Interviewing a lutheran about Catholic religious practices. That fits. (Many Protestants — Lutherans in particular — responded, “Are you Catholics still harping about this stuff?’ Wasn’t this why we had a Reformation?”)
John
That’s just bad reporting as usual. When did they fall into disuse? How did John Paul II “reintroduce” the practice in 2000? Editions of the Enchiridion were published in the 90s and 80s. Paul VI had an Apostolic Constitution about them in the late 60’s. They’re in the CCC from the early 80s. Oh, and Paul VI offered special indulgences in 1975 for the Holy Year. I don’t see how that means they were out of use for decades until 2000–and that’s just the information I came up with with 5 minute internet search.