Why did the Catholic church dramatically pushed the sale of indulgences in the sixteenth century?

Answer 1

In 1517, Pope Leo X issued indulgences for people to buy so he could raise money for the construction of St. Peter's Basilica. This indulgence was highly cirticized by Martin Luther and partially was the reason for the Protestant Reformation.
Pope Leo X wanted to rebuild and beautify the Saint Peter Basilica so that he collected indulgences.

Answer 2

Another answer from our community:

In point of fact, the Catholic Church has never sanctioned the "sale" of indulgences. As a matter of fact, to sell anything spiritual thing, including indulgences is known as the sin of simony, and is a very grievous sin. Always was, and always will be. When Julius II succeeded to the papacy after Alexander VI, the treasury was entirely empty and Julius had numerous expensive projects including the rebuilding of St. Peter's. Indulgences had always been available for any of three words of penance, which were (and are) fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. Due to abuses by some individuals, the indulgences issued for specific alms led to the belief by Martin Luther that indulgences were being sold. This was never the case. The Catholic Church did issue indulgences for almsgiving. Martin Luther did complain about sales of indulgences.

Answer 3

Leo needed to raise funds to restore St. Peter's Basilica. He offered Indulgences to those who contributed, Some, including Martin Luther, considered this as simony - the selling of religious favors - which was forbidden under Canon Law. However, Leo said it was merely a way to reward those who helped the Church. The differences in interpretation of Leo's actions are a bit blurred here. Did those who contribute actually purchase the indulgence or were they simply rewarded for their generosity? Indulgences can be obtained in a number of ways, usually after following some prescribed action or prayers, including making pilgrimages.

Answer 4

Catholic AnswerThis is another, "when did you stop beating your wife?" question. You can't answer it, because the premise is a lie. The Catholic Church never sold indulgences, ever. Nor, for that matter do indulgences have anything to do with forgiving sin. You need to understand the Christian concept of the Body of Christ: we are all members of the Body of Christ by our baptism. When one of us sins, we hurt the entire Body. Our Blessed Lord died on the cross to forgive our sins. We apply that forgiveness to ourselves in various ways, the first of which is baptism which wipes out everything up to that point in our lives. After baptism, Our Blessed Lord provided another Sacrament to remove serious sin (and venial {less serious}), that is confession. When you go to confession you must have contrition for your sins, confess all of them, and resolve to never to them again. Let me see if I can explain this another way:

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To understand indulgences you must first understand sin and its consequences:

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When one sins, one damages the Body of Christ, as, by our Baptism, we are all members of the Body of Christ, and everything we do, for good or ill, affects everyone.

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Say you are in the street in your neighborhood playing softball. You hit one and it goes flying across the street and through Mrs. Neighbor's front window. You put the bat down, walk across the street, knock on the door, and apologize to Mrs. Neighbor. She forgives you, since you were nice, and owned up to your fault. Up until now we have the basic scenario of someone going into confession and confessing their sins.

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But wait, notice that in my example, the window is still broken. You have to go home and confess to your father and mother that you broke the window, they, in turn, take your allowance for the next several years and pay to have the window fixed. The broken window is the example of how we damage the Body of Christ. The allowance that you have to fork over for the next several years is your penance.

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Now, an indulgence is based on the fact that when Jesus was a man living on the earth, his mother, and the other saints down through the centuries, have done more good works than they need to do their penances (in the case of Our Blessed Lord, and His mother, they had no need of penances, so all their good works are surplus), so, the Church, through Her power of the keys, can apply the merits of those good works to your penance. So in the example above, the indulgence is your parents fixing the window for you, and you are still going to get your allowance. You might have to fork over some of it to help, but they are not going to impoverish you for the next several years.

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That is what an indulgence is: it is the application of the good works of the saints to make up for your penances. Please note that they are only applicable to someone in a state of grace who has already been forgiven. They have NOTHING to do with the remission of sin. Without prior remission of sin, there can be no indulgence.

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Now, any good work can be used to obtain an indulgence in the Church, the classic works of penance are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The one that causes so much trouble back during the protestant revolt was an indulgence attached to almsgiving. For instance, you can earn a plenary indulgence now if you go to confession, go to Mass, receive Holy Communion, pray for the Holy Father, and do a good work, say a Rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament, or in a family group. You used to be able to earn a Plenary Indulgence for all the same conditions, but instead of saying the Rosary, you could donate ANY sum of money for some good work the Church was involved with. In this particular case, it was rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica. Because of all the hysterics and false rumors, that is no longer possible. Bottom line? The Church has never sold indulgences, ever.

Answer 5

Vivian Green (A New History of Christianity) says that indulgences began as a useful way of alleviating the harsh system of penance, and were offered subsequently for participation in crusades. This was extended so that indulgences were even offered to those who provided money or advice to help the crusades. They soon became a familiar part of Christian life, offered in return for payments, or visits to holy places or churches.

Andrew Pettegree (A World History of Christianity, Reformation and Counter-Reformation) says that the trade in indulgences was a relatively accessible and quite popular means of seeking some assurance of favour in the after life among Germany's Christian population.

Michaela Davey (Mastering Theology) says that at the beginning of the sixteenth century, Pope Leo X needed money to finalise the construction of St Peter's in Rome and planned to declare indulgences for all who contributed. In 1517, Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, calling for Catholic churchmen to debate their sale, with no intention at this stage to disturb the Church. Among those who replied to Luther's theses was Prierias, Master of the Papal Palace, who declared any challenge to the sale of indulgences heretical. If any proof is necessary that the sale of indulgences was both present and planned, Prierias' strident denunciation of challenges to the practice is that proof.

Vivian Green (ibid) says that Luther's attention was particularly focussed on the role of Albert, Archbishop of Mainz, who had purchased the sees of Magdeburg, and Halberstadt, borrowing at interest to pay for the purchase, with the intention of selling indulgences to help meet the repayments on that loan.

Andrew Pettegree (ibid) says that Luther and the debate over indulgences soon became a fashionable cause among humanists and among churchmen who had themselves been critical of abuse within the Church in the preceding years.

Answer 6

The Catholic church sold Indulgences because they needed the funds for the reconstruction of St. Peter's basilica in Rome.