## Indulgences have never been "away" - therefore, they cannot be "back"
If people do not avail themselves of them, that is not because the Church says they should not.
I probably should have said that they are back in active use again after a lengthy period when little or no mention was made of them and some of my otherwise sincere Catholic friends would argue with me that they were still available.
## That sounds like a barely-concealed accusation of simony,
which is an extremely serious crime. To sell grace is both impossible, & criminal even to attempt.
I agree entirely. Sadly, there were some in the sixteenth century who were guilty of that very crime. Today indulgences are not sold for money per se. However, money is typically donated for masses to be said for dead people. Whether or not these masses would be said apart from the monetary donation is open to discussion.
Indulgences are not gained by giving money - eternal damnation may be.
I agree entirely.
## Not by the Church. Why would it commit the heresy of denying the existence of a condition, state or place the exoistence of whoich it has defined as truth revealed by God ? Various people in the Church may have said otherwise, but they harm only themselves by denying Catholic dogma.
I agree, but with the caveat that this revelation concerning purgatory has neither been given nor received by any other branch of the body of Christ. It is a uniquely Catholic doctrine. Thus, it becomes questionable if, as has been asserted, that the Protestant and the Eastern Orthodox churches are partakers of salvation, whether they will be sent to purgatory or not.
## No. Sin is a fact, & an unimaginably terrible one. Because there is sin, there is need of purgatory. Therefore, indulgences are not at all meaningless. When sin becomes trivial, a thing of no importance, something to find amusing, so will purgation from sin: but not one moment before that. Sin is Deicidal - that tells us all we need to know about its true character. The Saints were led by a sound instinct when they emphasised the severity of the pains of Purgatory. If the "roots" of sin in the soul were not so deep & tangled, & God were no so Righteous, the "fires" of Purgatory would not be so searing.
## It is very much more than that. However, I agree that there should be more emphasis on it, & far more emphasis on Hell & damnation.