[ealgeone]

Crusades were a legitimate war of self defense and response to centuries of muslim invasions. If it were not for the Catholic Church, Europe would have become Muslim 1,000 years ago. So the war to protect the Church and Europe was just, those who fought were given a form of penance for their sins.

To compare it to Jihad is nonsense.

I don't disagree the Crusades were important battles to be fought.

What I do disagree with is the Pope's promise of forgiveness of sins for those who die in battle.

Those who believed in Christ already had forgiveness of their sins.

Those who didn't believe in Christ did not and the Pope couldn't confer forgiveness just for fighting. But that's what he did.

It's Roman Catholic Jihad.

[CTrent1564]

ealgeone:

The Pope was only following the true OT canon of the early undivided Catholic Church, 2 Maccabees, which is in both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canon. It is not in the Protestant canon, but that is the minority canon.

People commit sins after baptism and confirmation (Catholic doctrine) or after making the call of the altar, or however you all call it, in protestant doctrine. So the statement you quote should be understood in the Catholic context of what it actually means. These were men, who were of the faith, who had strayed in their adult lives, so fighting a just war to defend Christendom was seen as a sign of repentance.