Johann Tetzel was a Saxon Dominican friar and preacher who (in)famously granted indulgences on behalf of the Catholic Church in exchange for money, which were claimed to allow a remission of temporal punishment due to sin. In a book that I have just read (Evening in the Palace of Reason, by James Gaines), it is claimed that Tetzel said that an indulgence could wipe away the sin of a man guilty of raping Mary, Mother of Jesus, and that he had the approval of the pope (which would have to be Leo X) himself.

I found this idea so incredible (litteraly) that I searched for some external confirmation. Here, Gaines used as a reference Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, by Roland Baiton. There, the relevant passage (pp. 78–79) was that some of Martin Luther's parishioners “even reported Tetzel to have said that papal indulgences could absolve a man who had violated the Mother of God”. There is no mention here to any approval by the pope. Besides, according to Will Durant, in his book The Reformation (that I don't have access to; I am quoting from Wikipedia), Tetzel obtained affidavits from authorities at Halle, both civil and ecclesiastical, who swore that Tetzel never made any such claim.

So, is it plausible that Tetzel ever made such a claim and that he made it with the approval of the Pope?

Johann Tetzel was a Saxon Dominican friar and preacher who (in)famously granted indulgences on behalf of the Catholic Church in exchange for money, which were claimed to allow a remission of temporal punishment due to sin. In a book that I have just read (Evening in the Palace of Reason, by James Gaines), it is claimed that Tetzel said that an indulgence could wipe away the sin of a man guilty of raping Mary, Mother of Jesus, and that he had the approval of the pope (which would have to be Leo X) himself. Quoting:

The pope authorized Albert to promise, seriously, that even violating the Mother of God Herself could be forgiven by these indulgences.

Then, Albert employed Tetzel for the actual preaching of the indulgence.

I found this idea so incredible (litteraly) that I searched for some external confirmation. Here, Gaines used as a reference Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, by Roland Baiton. There, the relevant passage (pp. 78–79) was that some of Martin Luther's parishioners “even reported Tetzel to have said that papal indulgences could absolve a man who had violated the Mother of God”. There is no mention here to any approval by the pope. Besides, according to Will Durant, in his book The Reformation (that I don't have access to; I am quoting from Wikipedia), Tetzel obtained affidavits from authorities at Halle, both civil and ecclesiastical, who swore that Tetzel never made any such claim.

So, is it plausible that Tetzel ever made such a claim and that he made it with the approval of the Pope?