1917_The_Finished_Mystery_Text

of the family circle— without, however, beingaware of it.""De Sanctis" continues: "Encouragement isgiven to theft, as to every other crime, by thefacility of obtaining pardon, and absolutions aregiven to robbers, usurers, murderers, withouttheir having made any restitution whatever. Theyrepair to the confessor, present him with agoodly offering for a mass; or, if they are robbersof celebrity, men abounding in wealth, theyfound a chapelry, a benefice, or something of thekind. At Rome, for instance, every one knowsthat Pitts VII (1742-1823) grantedFM527to all who hear confessions in the Holy housePonterotto, the privilege of absolving fromrestitution all who have defrauded the Rev.Apostolic Chambers, or the government; and alldefraud, and run there to receive absolution. Butthis is not enough. Leo X (1475-1521), in hisbull beginning with "Postquan ad Apostulatus"gives confessors the privilege not only ofabsolving robbers, but of permitting them toretain in all good conscience, the fruits of theirusury, robberies, thefts, etc., on condition thatpart of the goods be given to the church!"Ecclesiasticism is a greedy robber: "Byconfession many families are immersed inpoverty; because the grasping confessor, takingadvantage of the weak moments of a dying man,has had the will made to the profit of the clergy;and facts of the kind may be reckoned by themillion. The grasping cupidity ofecclesiasticism's willhunters, and the consequentruin of innocent and helpless families, formedthe subject of an indignant remonstrance of theGerman princes at the Diet of Nuremberg. Tosuch a length was this execrable practicesometimes carried that the last sacraments weredenied to the dying man until he consented tomake a will in the priest's favor."Ecclesiasticism's apostasy, in teachings and inlife, has sown the seeds of the fiery harvest ofanarchy: "The horrible consequence for religion