Not sure what religion you are speaking of.  The only medallion I ever saw somebody receive based on recovery was at an AA meeting.  What religion or church are you speaking of?  I don´t understand "you are out on Saturday".

 And how would the priest know if they were truly repent or not ?!

And what is the power of the priests over people ?

Ýsnt only God have that power ?!

And if they have power, and you pay donations even by your will, wouldnt it sound...mmmm well fishy ?!

 I was clear in this teaschip....Roman Catholic.....did you not read the first message?  I suspect your Catholic education is only as things relate to the Second Vatican Council.  I saw what I describe prior to the Second Vatican Council.  You are out on Saturday means you are out of Purgatory by Saturday.....That is in response to Daydreamer´s comment "hundreds of years ago"....in fact it is only a few decades ago, not hundreds of years ago.

My original statement:

"As far as the Roman Catholic church is concerned, I know they were selling things that were said to get you out of Pergatory by Saturday.....so said the nuns...and that was not hundreds of years ago, but more like a couple of  decades ago......(Catholic relatives)...."

 Canli, the priest serves as a messenger/helper of the lord.  He mearly suggests and advises..it´s up to you whether or not you repent or listen to him.  It´s between you and God.  But it appears if you take the time to devulge your sins to a priest, your more than likely going to take the next step and repent.  This is unique to the Catholic Church, other forms of Christianity you basically can ask for forgiveness in your living room if you wish. 

As I said, you give what you can afford.  How much do you think it costs to keep a church operating, heat, air conditioning, bulletins, bibles etc, day care etc..

 If you could please provide a link that shows " you are out of Purgatory by Saturday"  Do you know what Purgatory is?   This doesn´t make sense unless you are dead.  Please don´t assume that I´m only familiar or educated with the Second Vatican Counsel.  I come from a long line of Catholic ancestors and have never heard of this.  If you could provide something for me to refer to....then educate me.

 But teas, you mean all priests are like messenger/helper of the lord , holy then ?!

But dont they study to be priests, how do they become holy and you appoint them not the Lord?

For something to be holy or messenger shouldnt God send or appoint not human ?!

And why would the Lord need any help to start with as long as HE already sent you his message ´the bible i mean´  ?

All you have to do is to apply it, and all forgiveness and other stuff should be the Lord business only, no ?

Ý understand they dont force you to donate, but if you already donate to the Church, and priest has the power of forgiveness, so forgive me for asking, but what would say he doesnt give forgiveness to anyone he likes no matter if he repent or not as long as he pay well ?!

Yes teaschip, I very well know what Pergatory is..... (in the abstract of course)

No I can´t, it was something I witnessed....before there were links.  You can believe it or not.  I too have Catholic .....as well as Jewish, Muslim and other Ancestors.....I was given a broad education regarding religion....as well as choice.

 Ãsnt it the same with Qur´an and all the imams and mujtehim (not sure if i remember that name correctly now, its getting late im afraid!)

  No, its not same

Ýmams explain things, clear some rules, but thats it

Forgivness, and Heaven or Hell something only ALLAH decide no one else can.

And you should know we dont even have confession or anything like that in Ýslam !

mujtehim ? i think its not correct and i fail to think of something close to that word...but i undersrood you meant imams.

Sorry, I see I mixed up understanding the Books and helping with Gods jobs like forgiving and showing mercy

I meant mujtahid, sorry.

Canli - the idea of confession and pardon only works because priests kind of "decide" if the sin commited is not one of unpardonable sins. Of course you can lie to a priest but then confession is not valid, because you were not trully sorry. How do I put it clearer?

Let´s say, you had pre-marital sex. But you´re sorry and feel it was a mistake. It is a sin in catholicism so you go to a confession, say your sin to the priest, he decides it´s one of "lighter" sins so gives you 5 prayers to say and never do it again (plus you may get a lecture why pre-marital sex is wrong). Then he tells you not to sin again. Now, if you were not sorry, just pretended, your confession is not valid. If you really were sorry, you´re forgiven.

Another example - a man kills his wife, he is then sorry, goes to a confession but the priest cannot pardon him as murder is one of deadly sins [I think! - not sure here](so is divorce that´s why divorced people are not pardoned and cannot take holy communion). So, although he is sorry, his sin is not pardoned.

So, as you can see, priests on their own cannot grant you heaven. It is a few conditions that you must meet. Besides, I think confession only works in Catholicism, I think there´s a general confession in other Christian denominations (you don´t say your sins to a priest but ask for forgiveness during a mass).

The role of priests (which is greatly abused for personal gain) is to give moral guidance, advice and teach about religion. The donations you´re criticising go for maintenance of churches (usually your local one) and charity. They don´t buy you heaven.

Alameda - I´ve been Catholic for quite a few years and I was actively involved in Church but I´ve never heard anything about "out on Sunday", maybe it´s a regional saying that does not apply to Church´s policy. Selling pardons was abolished in 16th century and that´s it.