It's the 45th anniversary of Roe v Wade and the pope is offering 'plenary indulgences' to church members who participate in the March for Life in Washington.

So what's a plenary indulgence? Googling 'plenary,' it means complete or absolute, and indulgence is “remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins of a person.” Catholic Catechism
If Martin Luther were here, he would again cry “Foul!” Indulgences sparked the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago.

It looks like the Lutherans who held joint communion last fall rushed the verdict on unity.

The pope seems to have a misunderstanding of salvation. Christ's death for our sins pays the penalty, but forgiveness is only for those who feel the pain they caused Him and ask Him to forgive them in seeking repentance.

Repentance is translated from the Greek word, metanoia, which means to have a change of mind. It's really a gift of the Holy Spirit that makes intercession in a person who accepts Christ's death for their sins and in gratitude, wants to live a life of victory without sin which caused His death.

Millions of Christians have had victory in their lives by confessing their sins and in agreeing with God that their sins (not the Jews or the Romans) killed Christ, and they in heart turn from whatever it is to walk in repentance.

Going to a priest and paying money for it does not bring repentance and millions of people come back repeatedly to the priest to pay again—great income for the church, but the promise of salvation is so shallow that we can see it doesn't work as testified by the millions the church pays in lawsuits for pedophilia by priests who have no victory either.

For readers wanting more information on how to live a successful Christian life, an online non-denominational book translated into 125+ languages offers much insight, http://pdf.amazingdiscoveries.org/eBooks/EGWhite/StepsToChrist.pdf

God can forgive any sin, but He will not excuse it or say, See you next week or next month as people see the doctor.

That system is also corrupt for failing to show the cause of most suffering is related, in most cases, to what we put in our mouths. It's a system that offers symptomatic relief without need to repent or change—also a damnable situation that often ends in early death. Http://LeadingCauseOfDeathPrescriptionDrugs.com

Since Catholics have a majority on the Supreme Court, why not just turn the clock back on Roe v Wade? It should be easier to give a few indulgences to the justices that voted to redefine marriage in 2015.

Or is this like politics—say one thing and do another? Can people do their own thing and then pay the church for forgiveness and salvation? God punished Egypt for killing babies; do we expect Him to shrug off 60 million abortions?

Can God Bless America? Blessings often come in disguise, and when judgment comes, it will not seem good, but it is necessary for us to get the message.

Author's Bio: 

Dr. Richard Ruhling is author of God Bless America? And it's available on Amazon at
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075896HPD and a short video summary is at https://youtu.be/vmMb9h7VZMQ