What are indulgences?

Most people who are even a little familiar with church history will recognize the image of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to a church door in Wittenberg. While there’s no conclusive evidence that he actually did this, we do know that the Augustinian friar succeeded in kicking off the Protestant Reformation by promulgating his then-controversial treatise and that his primary objection was to the practice of selling indulgences. Basically, Luther thought the institutional church was in the business of “selling salvation.” But what is an indulgence, really? Is it a “get out of hell free pass,” as some seem to think? Did the church really take money in exchange for the promise of forgiveness of sins? How did this practice originate, and how did it deteriorate into something associated with widespread abuse? , Does the Vatican currently have a stance on indulgences, or is this one of those practices that the church changed or discarded over time?  On this episode of the Glad You Asked podcast, hosts talk to guest Kathleen Manning about the concept of indulgences, how the practice developed, the controversies around it, and what Catholics believe today.  Manning teaches history at Loyola University Chicago and is a frequent contributor to U.S. Catholic’s Glad You Asked column.   You can read more about this topic in these links. “The Catholic view on indulgences and how they work today,” by Myriam Renaud  https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-view-on-indulgences-and-how-they-work-today-193066 “For Catholics, a Door to Absolution Is Reopened,” by Paul Vitello https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/nyregion/10indulgence.html#:~:text=You%20cannot%20buy%20one%20%E2%80%94%20the,indulgence%20per%20sinner%20per%20day. “Can Catholics celebrate the Reformation?” by Jacob Kohlhaas https://uscatholic.org/articles/201702/can-catholics-celebrate-the-reformation/ “The surprisingly Catholic Martin Luther,” a U.S. Catholic interview https://uscatholic.org/articles/200409/the-surprisingly-catholic-martin-luther/ Glad You Asked is sponsored by the Claretian Missionaries. https://www.claretians.org/