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Posts: 7270
Jun 24 08 8:19 AM
"Pope Offers Catholics Time Out Of Purgatory By Y2K Indulgences" The above was the headline of a recent article in the HOUSTON CHRONICLE (Nov 28, 1998, p. 26A). The article said: "Pope John Paul II announced Friday that throughout the millennium celebration, penitents who do a charitable deed or give up cigarettes or alcohol for a day can earn an 'indulgence" that will eliminate time in purgatory... "The medieval church sold indulgences, a practice that drove Martin Luther to rebel, leading to the Reformation... "The pope said individual sinners would be granted 'plenary indulgences," a full pardon for sins as opposed to a shortening of the time spent in purgatory...He included personal acts of penitence or local charity as a way of earning an indulgence. "Throughout the period, believers will be offered a wider selection of ways to receive a plenary indulgence. They may follow tradition and attend a Mass in one of several designated churches and perform such devotions as the rosary or the stations of the cross. Or, as an appendix to the pope's letter explains, they may visit the sick, the imprisoned, or the handicapped, or give to the poor. Or they may choose an act of private sacrifice...This would include abstaining for at least one whole day from unnecessary consumption (for example, from smoking, or alcohol, or by fasting)."
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