Johann Tetzel

I just heard Fr. Connor, on EWTN's The Catholic Church through the Ages, say that Johann Tetzel claimed that one could buy salvation. Martin Luther famously made the same accusation.

What Brother Tetzel actually said is that alms can be given to the Church in reparation for sins which have been repented of and forgiven. It should be noted that almsgiving as a form of reparation for sin is supported by Holy Scripture (see Sirach 3:29b-30, Ecclesiasticus 7:36, Tobias 4:7-11, Tobias 12:8-9, Proverbs 14:21, Proverbs 22:9, Psalm 41:1-2, Matthew 5:7, Luke 11:41). The accusation that Tetzel said that forgiveness can be purchased or that sins need not be repented of is slander. In "Vorlegung", his reply to Luther, Br. Tetzel wrote that an indulgence can be applied only "to the pains of sin which are confessed and for which there is contrition. ... No one secures an indulgence unless he have true contrition".

Shame on EWTN and Fr. Connor for repeating this false accusation.