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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: chalu2 who wrote (12842)	2/28/2000 5:50:00 AM
From: gao seng	Respond to of 769670

Show me where they or any one else has ever said that. It wasn't until after the Church was created that the pop began talking about good works getting you into heaven, or a pocket full of gold. Roman Catholic Church: Officials Update Doctrine of Indulgences Revisiting a practice that has been controversial for centuries, the Roman Catholic Church issued a new manual on indulgences on September 17, 1999. The revised guidelines are part of the church's preparations for a special holy year celebration in 2000. Indulgences are a Catholic tradition dating from the early Christian church. They promise believers relief from punishment after death for the sins they commit while alive. Indulgences were once commonly granted for giving money to the church, a practice that led to corruption and that was eventually abolished. Most historians cite the corruption surrounding indulgences as one of the principal causes of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. The new guidelines and the accompanying announcement gave examples of good acts that would earn indulgences, such as giving up smoking or meat for a day, fasting, certain prayers, or showing one's faith in public. According to traditional church doctrine, indulgences can reduce the time a soul spends in purgatory, a state of suffering during which the soul is purified of venial sins (sins that are less serious and cause only a partial loss of grace). Indulgences do not replace seeking forgiveness for sins, however. The rules governing indulgences were heavily revised in 1967, and the manual, Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, was most recently updated in 1986. Indulgences are a traditional part of the holy year, or Jubilee, a special time of prayers and pilgrimages that usually occurs every 25 years. Pope John Paul II has declared a Jubilee celebration for the year 2000. (For more information on the holy year, see the July 1999 Feature "The Pope, the Catholic Church, and the New Millennium.") The announcement raised concerns by some religious experts that the revised guidelines would endanger an important agreement between the Lutheran and Catholic churches. The accord, scheduled to be signed at the end of October, declares that salvation comes through faith in the grace of God alone and not through good works. Catholic officials dismissed these concerns, saying they expected the signing to proceed as planned. (For more information on this agreement, see the June 1999 Update "Religion: Catholics, Lutherans Reach Fundamental Accord.") The Holy See is the English version of the official Web site of the Vatican, the headquarters of the Catholic Church, and includes a page about the 2000 holy year.