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Kiri says: So what does simony mean in the context of the Catechism? A question that the last contributions from Jay and Chandra left me wondering. I tried aj.encyclopedia.com and got- catechism: originally oral instruction in religion, later written instruction. Catechisms, usually in the form of questions and answers, were used to instruct converts and children simony: buying or selling of any spiritual benefit for a temporal consideration. Because of the frequency of simony at times in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, the church now has strict laws against it; e.g., simony in a papal election invalidates the election, no priest may ask for a baptismal fee, and the sale of indulgences [paying for sins to be pardoned] is prohibited. In a further reference to the 16th century Catholic reformation simony was sited along side such ills as worldliness, corruption among the higher clergy, ignorance in the priesthood, and general spiritual apathy; and was one of the things that reformers like the Jesuits did away with. So it seems likely to me that simony is to be regarded as a sin. Chandra replies: Well Kiri, your post sent me back to mine, and rereading Jay's words, showed me the source of the confusion :-) I had read " "simony"------ literally selling the spiritual for monetary reward------" to mean that the person concerned is selling the spiritual .... but what it could mean is that it is the church that is selling the spiritual... That meaning brings what Jay said, what I wrote and what you wrote all under one hat. As Jay said the meaning here is vaster and need not be restricted to church and its uses/ misuses. I am also interested in your saying below: "So it seems likely to me that simony is to be regarded as a sin." Though one of the reasons behind reformation of the church was the selling of indulgences, i.e, simony, I wonder whether it was not a clever idea when it was initiated. Whoever thought of this was either greedy and saw that this way one can make quite a bit of money for the church because people cannot help but act often "immorally" or he was a sympathetic person who devised a way out for such people and showed them a ray of hope regarding how to salvage their soul! But that solution led people more astray, I guess, just like the burmese officer. Do you know that book by Orwell? |
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