Who was responsible for the indulgence selling campaign which led to Martin Luther's break with the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

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Catholic AnswerYour question is making several incorrect assumptions. First of all, there was no "indulgence selling campaign." Second of all, indulgences could never be "sold" as such, they used to be granted for any of the works of mercy, especially for the three primary works of penace: Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Thus, up until the time of Martin Luther, it was perfectly respectable to earn an indulgence that was attached to a work of almsgiving. In this particular case, the almsgiving was a donation to the Church for the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica. Due to all the misinformation put out at the time, it is no longer possible. But even back then, the almsgiving was only part of the "work" necessary to earn an indulgence. As with today's indulgences (yes, they are still very much a part of the Church's teaching) a person must be in a state of grace, he must have been to confession within a week of the act being performed, and he should have made a good Communion, and said prayers for the Holy Father on the day that the work is performed. This is right out of the current Enchiridion of Indulgences Norms and Grants. Finally, even then, indulgences was NOT what led Martin Luther to flee the Catholic Church, his morals were, or shall we say, lack thereof. The man's name that you are looking for is Fr. Johann Tetzel, you may read more about him and this little problem with M. Luther at the link below. Further research, even from 100 years ago when the Catholic Encyclopedia was printed, has proved that the vast amount of libel about Fr. Tetzel is just that, unproven gossip mongering. All of the baseless charges leveled by protestant "theologians" and "historians" over the years has been pure fantasy, or research based on pure fantasy.