What is “simony”?

The story behind the answer

It refers to the trafficking of ecclesiastical positions and benefices—treating a bishopric, abbacy, or parish as something to be obtained for cash or favors. The Church denounced it as a grave sin because spiritual authority was meant to be a vocation, not a commodity, and such transactions often bred corruption and unfit leadership.

Named for Simon Magus in Acts 8, who tried to purchase spiritual power from the apostles, the practice became widespread when church offices carried land, income, and political clout. Its abuses helped spark the 11th‑century reform movement (Cluniac and Gregorian), leading to papal bans, excommunication for offenders, and efforts to separate spiritual appointments from wealth and lay interference—conflicts that fed into the Investiture Controversy.