This passage we can say is a direct response the critique of indulgences raised by the Protestant reform.
In other words this could be a direct answer to Martin Luther and his 95 thesis, in which the selling of the indulgences, that is the forgiveness of sins in exchange of money, was the main issue. The Church states that the Christ himself gave the right to them to sell the indulgences and that that is the time-honored tradition.
Some factors of the Great Depression were the burst of the 1920s credit bubble in the United States as well as the overinflated investing market during the same decade. It helped cause WW2 by radicalising Germans (really by the Nazis) against the rest of the world who they already blamed for their troubles during the 20s.
Rich, higher level people, specifically plantation owners.
