INDULGENCES.
There are few tenets of the Catholic Church so little understood, or so
grossly misrepresented by her adversaries, as her doctrine regarding
Indulgences.
One of the reasons of the popular misapprehension of an Indulgence may be
ascribed to the change which the meaning of that term has gradually
undergone. The word Indulgence originally signified _favor, remission or
forgiveness_. Now, it is commonly used in the sense of unlawful
gratification, and of free scope to the passions. Hence, when some
ignorant or prejudiced persons hear of the Church granting an Indulgence
the idea of license to sin is at once presented to their minds.
An Indulgence is simply a remission in whole or in part, through the
superabundant merits of Jesus Christ and His saints, of the temporal
punishment due to God on account of sin after the guilt and eternal
punishment have been remitted.
It should be borne in mind that, even after our guilt is removed, there
often remains some temporal punishment to be undergone, either in this
life or the next, as an expiation to Divine sanctity and justice. The Holy
Scripture furnishes us with many examples of this truth. Mary, the sister
of Moses, was pardoned the sin which she had committed by murmuring
against her brother. Nevertheless, God inflicted on her the penalty of
leprosy and of seven days’ separation from the people.(470)
Nathan, the prophet, announced to David that his crimes were forgiven, but
that he should suffer many chastisements from the hand of God.(471)
That our Lord has given to the Church the power of granting Indulgences is
clearly deduced from the Sacred Text. To the Prince of the Apostles He
said: “Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven;
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in
heaven.”(472) And to all the Apostles assembled together He made the same
solemn declaration.(473) By these words our Savior empowered His Church to
deliver her children (if properly disposed) from every obstacle that might
retard them from the Kingdom of Heaven. Now there are two impediments that
withhold a man from the heavenly kingdom—sin and the temporal punishment
incurred by it. And the Church having power to remit the greater obstacle,
which is sin, has power also to remove the smaller obstacle, which is the
temporal punishment due on account of it.
The prerogative of granting Indulgence has been exercised by the teachers
of the Church from the beginning of her existence.
St. Paul exercised it in behalf of the incestuous Corinthian whom he had
condemned to a severe penance proportioned to his guilt, “that his spirit
might be saved in the day of the Lord.”(474) And having learned afterwards
of the Corinthian’s fervent contrition the Apostle absolves him from the
penance which he had imposed: “To him, that is such a one, this rebuke is
sufficient, which is given by many. So that contrariwise you should rather
pardon and comfort him, lest, perhaps, such a one be swallowed up with
over-much sorrow.... And to whom you have pardoned anything, I also. For,
what I have pardoned, if I have pardoned anything, for your sakes I have
done it in the person of Christ.”(475)
Here we have all the elements that constitute an Indulgence. First—A
penance, or temporal punishment proportioned to the gravity of the
offence, is imposed on the transgressor. Second—The penitent is truly
contrite for his crime. Third—This determines the Apostle to remit the
penalty. Fourth—The Apostle considers the relaxation of the penance
ratified by Jesus Christ, in whose name it is imparted.
We find the Bishops of the Church, after the Apostle, wielding this same
power. No one disputes the right, which they claimed from the very first
ages, of inflicting canonical penances on grievous criminals, who were
subjected to long fasts, severe abstinences and other mortifications for a
period extending from a few days to five or ten years and even to a
lifetime, according to the gravity of the offence. These penalties were,
in several instances, mitigated or cancelled by the Church, according to
her discretion; for a society that can inflict a punishment can also remit
it. Our Lord gave His Church power not only to bind, but also to loose.
This discretionary prerogative was often exercised by the Church at the
intercession of those who were condemned to martyrdom, when the penitents
themselves gave strong marks of fervent sorrow, as we learn from the
writings of Tertullian and Cyprian.
The General Council of Nice and other Synods authorize Bishops to
mitigate, or even to remit altogether, public penances, whenever, in their
judgment, the penitent manifested special marks of repentance. Now, in
relaxing the canonical penances, or in substituting for them a milder
satisfaction, the Bishops granted what we call an Indulgence. This
sentence of remission on the part of the Bishops was valid not only in the
sight of the Church, but also in the sight of God. Although the Church
imposes canonical penances no longer, God has never ceased to inflict
temporal punishment for sin. Hence Indulgences continue to be necessary
now, if not as substitute for canonical penances, at least as a mild and
merciful payment of the temporal debt due to God.
An Indulgence is called plenary or partial, according as it remits the
whole or a part of the temporal punishment due to sin. An Indulgence, for
instance, of forty days remits, before God, so much of the temporal
punishment as would have been expiated in the primitive Church by a
canonical penance of forty days.
Although the very name of Indulgence is now so repugnant to our dissenting
brethren, there was a time when the Protestant Church professed to grant
them. In the canons of the Church of England reference is made to
Indulgences, and to the disposition to be made of the money paid for
them.(476)
From what I have said you may judge for yourself what to think of those
who say that an Indulgence is the remission of past sins, or a license to
commit sin granted by the Pope as a spiritual compensation to the faithful
for pecuniary offerings made him. I need not inform you that an Indulgence
is neither the one nor the other. It is not a remission of sin, since no
one can gain an Indulgence until he is already free from sin. It is still
less a license to commit sin; for every Catholic child knows that neither
Priest nor Bishop nor Pope nor even God Himself—with all reverence be it
said—can give license to commit the smallest fault.
But are not Indulgences at variance with the spirit of the Gospel, since
they appear to be a mild and feeble substitute for alms-giving, fasts,
abstinences and other penitential austerities, which Jesus Christ
inculcated and practised, and which the primitive Church enforced?
The Church, as every one must know who is acquainted with her history,
never exempts her children from the obligation of doing works of penance.
No one can deny that the practices of mortification are more frequent
among Catholics than among Protestants. Where will you find the
evangelical duty of fasting enforced, if not from the Catholic pulpit? It
is well known that, among the members of the Catholic Church, those who
avail themselves of the boon of Indulgences are usually her most
practical, edifying and fervent children. Their spiritual growth far from
being retarded, is quickened by the aid of Indulgences, which are usually
accompanied by acts of contrition, devotion, self-denial and the reception
of the Sacraments.
But, do what we will, we cannot please our opponents. If we fast and give
alms; if we crucify our flesh, and make pilgrimages and perform other
works of penance, we are accused of clinging to the rags of dead works,
instead of "holding on to Jesus" by faith. If, on the other hand, we
enrich our souls with the treasures of Indulgences we are charged with
relying on the vicarious merits of others and of lightening too much the
salutary burden of the cross. But how can Protestants consistently find
fault with the Church for _mitigating_ the austerities of penance, since
their own fundamental principle rests on _faith alone without good works_?
But have not Indulgences been the occasion of many abuses at various
times, particularly in the sixteenth century?
I will not deny that Indulgences have been abused; but are not the most
sacred things liable to be perverted? This is a proper place to refer
briefly to the Bull of Pope Leo X. proclaiming the Indulgence which
afforded Luther a pretext for his apostasy. Leo determined to bring to
completion the magnificent Church of St. Peter, commenced by his
predecessor, Julius II. With that view he issued a Bull promulgating an
Indulgence to such as would contribute some voluntary offering toward the
erection of the grand cathedral. Those, however, who contributed nothing
shared equally in the treasury of the Church, provided they complied with
the essential conditions for gaining the Indulgence. The only
indispensable conditions enjoined by the Papal Bull were sincere
repentance and confession of sins. D’Aubigne admits this truth, though in
a faltering manner, when he observes that “in the Pope’s Bull something
was said of the repentance of the heart and the confession of the
lips.”(477) The applicants for the Indulgence knew well that, no matter
how munificent were their offerings, these would avail them nothing
without true contrition of heart.
No traffic or sale of Indulgences was, consequently, authorized or
countenanced by the Head of the Church, since the contributions were
understood to be voluntary. In order to check any sordid love of gain in
those charged with preaching the Indulgence, “the hand that delivered the
Indulgence,” as D’Aubigne testifies, “could not receive the money: that
was forbidden under the severest penalties.”(478)
Wherein, then, was the conduct of the Pope reprehensible? Certainly not in
soliciting the donations of the faithful for the purpose of erecting a
temple of worship, a temple which today stands unrivalled in majesty and
beauty!
“But thou of temples old, or altars new,
Standest alone, with nothing like to thee;
Worthiest of God, the holy and the true,
Since Sion’s desolation, when that He
Forsook His former city, what could be
Of earthly structures, in His honor piled,
Of a sublimer aspect? Majesty,
Power, Glory, Strength, and Beauty, all are aisled
In this eternal ark of worship undefiled.”(479)
If Moses was justified in appealing to the Hebrew people, in the Old Law,
for offerings to adorn the tabernacle, why should not the Pope be equally
justified in appealing for similar offerings to the Christian people,
among whom he exercises supreme authority, as Moses did among the
Israelites?
Nor did the Pope exceed his legitimate powers in promising to the pious
donors spiritual favors in exchange for their donations. For if our sins
can be redeemed by alms to the poor,(480) as the Scripture tells us, why
not as well by offerings in the cause of religion? When Protestant
ministers appeal to their congregations in behalf of themselves and their
children, or in support of a church, they do not fail to hold out to their
hearers spiritual blessings in reward for their gifts. It is not long
since a Methodist parson of New York addressed these sacred words to
Cornelius Vanderbilt, the millionaire, who had endowed a Methodist
college: “Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thy alms are had in
remembrance in the sight of God.”(481) The minister is more _indulgent_
than even the Pope, to whom were given the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven;
for the minister declares Cornelius absolved without the preliminary of
confession or contrition, while even, according to D’Aubigne, the
inflexible Pope insisted on the necessity of “repentance of the heart and
confession of the lips” before the donor’s offering could avail him to
salvation.
John Tetzel, a Dominican monk, who had been appointed the chief preacher
to announce the Indulgence in Germany, was accused by Luther of exceeding
his powers by making them subservient to his own private ends. Tetzel’s
conduct was disavowed and condemned by the representative of the Holy See.
The Council of Trent, held some time after, took effectual measures to put
a stop to all irregularities regarding Indulgences and issued the
following decree: “Wishing to correct and amend the abuses which have
crept into them, and on occasion of which this signal name of Indulgences
is blasphemed by heretics, the Holy Synod enjoins in general, by the
present decree, that all wicked traffic for obtaining them, which has been
the fruitful source of many abuses among the Christian people, should be
wholly abolished.”(482)