Money could buy offices in the church

The term derives from the name of Simon Magus (Acts 8:8-24) who attempted to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit from the apostles. The abuse of simony again emerged in the church after the cessation of the persecutions. Especially pronounced in the late middle ages, simony was associated with pluralism and absenteeism. It was often listed among the complaints that led to the Reformation of the sixteenth century.