[el_nahual]

An even bigger misconception is that indulgences were actually bought on behalf of _someone else_.

They were meant to address a very real problem with catholic heaven/hell theology:

What if I belong in heaven, but somene I love, who I can't possibly imagine spending eternity without, belongs in hell?

Indulgences were originally meant to address this: the party that belonged in heaven could, through their sacrifice, guarantee a spot in heaven for their loved one. It was only later that the "sacrifice" become strictly monetary.

[eru]

As far as I know, indulgences never got you out of hell. They were to shorten your time in purgatory.

[Thorrez]

>An even bigger misconception is that indulgences were actually bought on behalf of _someone else_.

Are you saying it's true that indulgences can be obtained for others or that it's false that indulgences can be obtained for others?

In reality indulgences can be obtained for yourself, or for others, including those in Purgatory. They can't be obtained for people in Hell.

>It was only later that the "sacrifice" become strictly monetary.

Indulgences are not strictly monetary. The vast majority involve no money at all.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indulgence#Plenary_indulgences

[mjh2539]

Indulgences for the damned were inefficacious and applied to the Church suffering in purgatory.