The Roman Catholic Church claims the power to excuse or release persons from all or part of the suffering coming to them in purgatory. This is done for good acts performed or prayers said. In the middle ages, indulgences were granted in exchange for donations to the church. Thus the scandal of the selling of indulgences, which was a primary factor in bringing about the Protestant reformation. While the practice of the selling of indulgences has been condemned, the Roman Catholic Church still grants indulgences for deeds and prayers. If a devout person gains more indulgences than they need to wipe out their own time in purgatory, they may assign the excess indulgences to persons (usually deceased) of their choosing. Certain prayers take three years off one’s sentence in purgatory. Other actions, usually performed over a period of days, carry a "plenary indulgence." That is, they release a soul from all their purgatorial sentence, no matter how long. Some Roman Catholics make a practice of collecting as many plenary indulgences as they can. They assign them first to their deceased relatives, and then to the souls in purgatory with the longest sentences. Such practices are incomprehensible to Christians outside the Roman Catholic Church (and to many within it as well).