Francis by Patrick J. Marrin for January 04, 2021

No such thing as a pre-emptive pardon.

And the people who would give them never darken the door of a church.

The Catholic church should consider selling indulgences again, at least they could make some money doing that. It worked during the Middle Ages until Martin Luther came along.

Okay, Prairie Dog pulls the fuse on the toy hand-grenade and lobs it it into the comments: ummm….Wasn’t Jesus the pre-emptive pardon?

That’s what Indulgences are all about… get time off in Purgatory.

As a kid, i never understood things like “300 days Indulgence.”i thought that time in the afterlife didn’t exist as we know it.

The sale of Indulgences financed the construction of St.Peter’s… it’s what put Martin Luther’s dander up.

If you transfer the money from your online account, it’s a PayPal Indulgence.

…. only in America…..

Trump Disciples all celebrate the pardons of war criminals who slaughter people in the street.

Because Christian.

How could a presidential pardon for his indicted/convicted cronies NOT work against Trump once h’s out of office? I. e. "Mr./Ms. X, you are pardoned for anything UP UNTIL NOW. Lie to us from here on & your F_______ ‘in (Fox News-in’) ass is grass! Also: I asked my bank to find 1500 (missing) $ ’ s in my accounts. They were less than receptive.

While this may be a clever jibe at our pardon-crazy leader, it’s not a nice reminder of the old selling of dispensations…

Francesco venne poi, com’ io fu’ morto, / per me; ma un d’i neri cherubini / li disse: “Non portar; non mi far torto.

Venir se ne dee giù tra ’ miei meschini / perché diede ’l consiglio frodolente, / dal quale in qua stato li sono a’ crini;

ch’assolver non si può chi non si pente, / né pentere e volere insieme puossi / per la contradizion che nol consente.”

Oh me dolente! come mi riscossi / quando mi prese dicendomi: / “Forse tu non pensavi ch’io löico fossi!”

In Dante’s Inferno, there is a story about a soldier who became a friar. He received absolution from a Pope for a sin he was about to commit. When the friar died, a devil showed up and argued a preemptive absolution was impossible. See Canto XXVII

I showed this to my wife, who’s Irish Catholic, went to Catholic school during this time period and got a kick out of the comments.

Some people think once they convert they are free to sin to their hearts content as long it is for God and their country.

A church that would do this might be in need of Reformation.

I was under the impression that Protestants get forgiveness for what they will do in the future. Confession is for past sins.

Sounds just about right. Happens all the time with the RCC in Mexico.