Simony

The practice of selling or or purchasing church offices or other spiritual benefits. This fraudulant act is named after Simon (7), the convert who had previously been a magician reported in Acts 8, for when "Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money and said, "Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit."

Especially in medieval times when a bishop had to supervise many churches spread over a wide geographical region (and, of course, bishops prefer to live in the bigger towns), officers would be appointed to oversee the administration and affairs of the local churches. In their position, they would, of course, have access to the financial and other intangible resources of the church. Possession of an office in the especially wealthy churches could be an easy means of good living, and simony was one of the ways to get into such offices. But, perhaps the most dastardly of the many forms of simony in the history of the church was the sales of the indulgences by the western church in the 16th Cent, that promised the purchasers the deliverance from purgatory for those in whose names they were purchased.