Final answer:
Indulgences were granted by the Catholic Church to reduce or eliminate the punishment for minor sins. They were usually exchanged for services or payment to the church, and were a way to reduce the time spent in purgatory.
Step-by-step explanation:
Indulgences were granted by the Catholic Church to worshippers to reduce or eliminate the punishment for their venial (minor) sins. They were usually issued in exchange for services or payment to the church. These indulgences were a way to reduce or even cancel the time after death during which people needed to suffer in purgatory to atone for their sins before reaching heaven.
The Catholic Church granted indulgences, including plenary and partial indulgences, to reduce punishment for sins, but Martin Luther condemned this practice in his Ninety-five Theses, sparking a major church reform movement.
The items granted by the Catholic Church to worshippers to reduce or eliminate the punishment for their venial sins, usually in exchange for services or payment, are known as indulgences. Specifically, these were plenary indulgences and partial indulgences. Plenary indulgences purported to remove all the temporal punishment due to sin, whereas partial indulgences removed part of the punishment. Martin Luther's Ninety-five Theses protested against the sale of indulgences, particularly because he believed that forgiveness should be based solely on faith and repentance, not on financial transactions.
Luther, who was a professor of Theology at the University of Wittenberg, was deeply concerned that the faithful were being misled into believing they could buy their way into heaven. His arguments against the sale of indulgences led to a significant movement for reform within the church, which ultimately contributed to the start of the Protestant Reformation.