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What also gets entirely swept under the rug is the REAL reason why Luther challenged the issue in the first place. He was against the idea that true repentance could be/should be avoided by those who wanted the easy way out of facing the temporal punishment of God for their sins by buying an indulgence. It wasn't until years later that he began to dispute the whole idea of Purgatory and the purpose for ANY indulgences.

To Luther, there was a spiritual benefit in true sorrow for sin and the necessity of contrition to be restored to fellowship with God. In one of Luther's early sermons regarding indulgences, he preached:

Then in addition, the very profusion of indulgences astonishingly fills up the measure of servile righteousness. Through these nothing is accomplished except that the people learn to fear and flee and dread the penalty of sins, but not the sins themselves. Therefore, the results of indulgences are too little seen but we do see a great sense of self-security and licentious sinning; so much so that, if it were not for the fear of the punishment of sins, nobody would want these indulgences, even if they were free; whereas the people ought rather to be exhorted to love the punishment and embrace the cross. Would that I were a liar when I say that indulgences are rightly so called, for to indulge means to permit, and indulgence is equivalent to impunity, permission to sin, and license to nullify the cross of Christ. Or, if indulgences are to be permitted, they should be given only to those who are weak in faith, that those who seek to attain gentleness and lowliness through suffering, as the Lord here says, may not be offended. For, not through indulgences, but through gentleness and lowliness, so says he, is rest for your souls found. But gentleness is present only in punishment and suffering, from which these indulgences absolve us. They teach us to dread the cross and suffering and the result is that we never become gentle and lowly, and that means that we never receive indulgence nor come to Christ. Oh, the dangers of our time! Oh, you snoring priests! Oh, darkness deeper than Egyptian! How secure we are in the midst of the worst of all our evils! (LW 51:31-33).

There’s also the factor of never wanting to admit the Catholic church has ever been wrong.

If it was wrong about one thing, that opens the door to the possibility of it being wrong other times, too. Then where does it stop?

Also, if your church is perfect then it puts you in the position of feeling like you can justifiably criticize others.

It’s a HUGE pride issue too.