Chapter 214: Agitation and Profit (9)
Father Stefano erupted in anger the moment he saw me.
“No, the Pope must have lost his mind. There’s no way he could commit such a crime unless he’s completely lost it!”
I don’t agree with that statement.
If he had truly lost his mind, he wouldn’t have been able to think of selling indulgences so boldly.
What the Pope gave up wasn’t his sanity or reason—it was his conscience, something all humans should have.
‘Of course, once you give up your conscience, you’re no longer sane.’
“Selling indulgences has been done by the Church before, though. But that was when a diocese was short on funds, and they sold them to those who could afford it!”
Indulgences, or as they are also called, indulgences for pardon.
This was something that had been issued long before Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, but as he said, these were taxes to gather extra funds for the Church.
The poor are too busy worrying about their daily bread.
The priests, who had thrown their conscience over the Jordan River, would sell these indulgences to the rich, saying, "If you buy this, your parents will reach heaven faster."
Now, they’re pulling from everyone, from the poor to the rich, like catching mice.