“A Church that sold indulgences and abused its wealth — does it get to talk about poverty?”

🔥The question: “There is a history of selling salvation for money while the leaders lived in luxury. Isn't preaching poverty hypocrisy?”

🕯️First, the admission: There really were sermons and practices that wrongly tied indulgences to donations, and there really was simony, nepotism, private use of Church property, and luxury. Where power and buildings were built up on the sacrifices of the poor, that was a betrayal of the Gospel. Pointing to cultural heritage or the needs of relief agencies does not justify corruption.

🛡️The Church's answer: The forgiveness of sins and salvation cannot be bought. Church property is not a leader's personal wealth but something entrusted for worship, pastoral care, the poor, and the common good, so it requires transparent budgets, independent audits, safeguards against conflicts of interest, and consequences for those responsible. It is not enough to talk about the reforms of the past; today's accounts and today's way of living have to be checked, again and again, for simplicity.

🎨An analogy — the person entrusted with the lunch money throws a feast

If the person entrusted with the children's lunch money spent it on a party of their own, “school lunches are still a good thing” does not close the matter. The money has to be put back, the books opened, and the arrangement changed so that no one can spend it alone again.

This does not mean all Church property is like lunch money. It shows that when entrusted property is used privately, naming a good purpose is not enough to escape accountability.

🧐If they press further: “What should be done with property obtained wrongly?” — The history of the holding and the people harmed by it have to be investigated, and whatever return, compensation, and use for the common good are possible have to be examined. Saying the title is legally valid does not settle the moral responsibility.

✨In one sentence: “Salvation cannot be bought with money and Church property is for the common good, so corruption and luxury have to be confessed and answered for with transparency, recovery of assets, and reparation.”

📚Deep reading — Did indulgences cause the Reformation? 10 questions