The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-10-30
INDULGENCES.

Of all questions of Catholic dogma,
the doctrine of indulgences is the
most strangely misunderstood and
most persistently misrepresented.
From the point of view of Professionals
the Catholic doctrine of indulgences
led to the Reformation of the six
teenth century. BY it Rome has filed
the measure of her iniquities, and
the overflow created Professionalism
Luther was the standard bearer of
the opposition. Pope Leo x, wishing
to collect means to finish st. Peters
Church, granted special indulgence,
one of the conditions of which was
the. giving Of an aims. for that pRrs
pose. He selected the Doninicans
to preach this indulgence in Germany
Luther, an Augustinian, out of jeal-
ousy, opposed the Dominican Tetze1,
as if preaching false doctrines. In
fact, he had been waiting for some
time for an opportunity to throw
off the yoke of the church, whose
teachings discountenanced the evil
impulses of his heart. He found it
in the preaching of indulgences by
Tetzel. The utterances and doings
of Tetzel may not have all been fault
less. From possible abuse in the
granting of indulgences, Luther
argued against any such power in the
Church of Christ. His feelings of
pride hurt by the appointment of the
Dominicans over the Augustinians,
now developed into open revolt. This
revolt is the cornerstone of Protes-
tantism. Upon this was subsequently,
built superstructure of religious
negations, protest against almost
every Catholic doctrine. Individuals
may err, but the Church in matters
of faith and morals cannot. Her
teaching on indulgences is today what
it has always been.
An indulgence Is the remission of
the temporal punishment due to sin,
and not of the sin or its guilt: no
sin, however venial it may be, is or
can be forgiven by an indulgence.
The temporal punishment generally
remains after the guilt of sin and the
eternal punishment have been re-
mitted, and is to be atoned for either
in this world or in, the next. This
punishment is due only to actual sins,
as original sin with its punishment
is RENTED by Baptism. Eternal
punishment must be RENTED before
any temporal punishment can be
atoned for by an indulgence. This
remission of the temporal punishment
is granted by the Church by virtues
of the keys of the Sacrament of Pen
ance, that is, by an act of ecclesiasti-
cal jurisdiction. Its remission is
granted by applying the superabun-
dant satisfactions of Christ and of the
saints, The Church possesses an in
exhaustible treasure consisting of the
satisfactory merits of the saints who
either had not sinned, like the Blessed
Virgin Mary, or whose atonement was
greater than their sins required. This
treasure, so says Pope Clement VI,
has not been covered up in napkin
or hidden in the field, but has been
left by the Lord to ST. Peter, the door
keeper of heaven, and to his success
ors, to be used for the spiritual adj
vantage of the faithful. This treas
ure, being a mere spiritual treasure,
is not found in any particular place,
is before God, Who, by virtue of
these superintendent satisfactions, is
moved to bestow mercy on those to
whom they are applied by the Church.
1t remains now for us to prove that
the Church has really the power of
granting indulgences. For a Catholic
this is an article of faith. as the Coun.
Gil of Trent cuts of from the com.
munion of the Church all who profess
the contrary error, TO any believer
in the Bible and in Christian Tradi.
ton there can be no logical doubt on
this point, Christ says to st. Peter,
Il viii give to thee the keys of the
kingdom Of heaven -. and whatso
ever thou shalt loose upon earth, il
shall be Ioosed also in heaven BY
these words Christ conferred upon
Peter the mower of loosing every
spiritual chain, but the temporaI