The Vatican is taking a modern approach to one
of its oldest traditions, by offering indulgences to Twitter followers of the
Pontifex's social media account.
Under Catholic belief, after confessing
and being absolved of sin, the indulgences granted reduce the amount of time
one spends in purgatory, where one's sins are weighed after death. Under the
Pope's new offer, those who follow the week's events on the Twitter feed can
get a speedier transit through purgatory, hopefully on the way to heaven.
"The notion of indulgence is that you've
already been forgiven for your sin, because you've gone to confession, at least
in theory, but what it does is reduce the amount of time you have to spend in
purgatory after you die to work off that sin," said Patrick Hornbeck,
chair of the department of Theology at the University of Fordham in New York.
The
concept of indulgences date back to the 1300s, when popes began to teach that
because the church had the power from Christ to forgive sins, the church also
had the power to reduce the amount of time one spent in purgatory, said
Hornbeck.
"The
way indulgences were originally conceived as is you do some kind of religious
work. So you say a particular prayer, you go on pilgrimage to a particular
place, you state a particular mass, or whatever that might be," said
Hornbeck.
The decree, issued by the Apostolic
Penitentiary -- the Vatican office that deals with indulgences -- also asked
priests around the world to make themselves available to hear confessions of
those who want the Indulgence and to encourage public prayers for the success
of World Youth Day.
"This
Pope has done a remarkable job of demonstrating how well aware he is of the way
in which his younger audience, his younger followers, follow things and I think
it totally makes sense that young Catholics would be much more likely to
participate via social networking and social media rather than through
traditional ways," said Hornbeck.
The
Pope has almost 2.7 million followers on Twitter.
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