of money for what is essentially junk. 

The Summoner also takes advantage of the poor and the uneducated.  He has lackeys who work for him to tell him the gossip about the peasants over whom he has jurisdiction, and he then threatens these peasants with excommunication from the Church unless they bribe him to keep quiet about their indiscretions.  Both these incorrigible men exhibit the views of the Roman Catholic Church that many Brits shared in Chaucer's day.

The most famous work in which Chaucer satirizes the Catholic Church is The Canterbury Tales. He has a number of characters in this great poem that lend to that satirization. The objective of this satire is to humorously point out the failings and folly (or worse) of the Church of his era. Remember that during Chaucer’s time, the Christian Church was only the Catholic Church as the Protestant Reformation didn’t occur until 1517 with the public notice of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses. The nature of satire is that it is delivered through biting wit and humor, so Chaucer’s satirical characters are on the amusing, even comical, side, even though some of them are scoundrels.

Some of the most obvious characters who satirize the Church are the Friar, the Pardoner, The the Prioress, and Nun’s Priest. The Friar provides a satirical view of the Church because of his ability to practice a religious calling that specializes in hearing the confessions of wealthy people who pay generous donations:

instead of weeping and [of] prayers
Men may give silver to the poor freres.

The sincerity of the Church is satirized through the Pardoner who sells relics that forgive and remove a person’s sins--for a tidy price. The Prioress is the female representative satirizing the Church. She is elegant and tastefully adorned, with an inclination for romance. Her jewelry and other niceties satirize the Church’s religious ideal of sacrifice and devotion to spiritual over worldly pleasures. The Nun’s Priest satirizes the Church because of his position as chaplain to the Prioress. There is a suggestion that the Prioress’s romantic proclivities are directed at and reciprocated by her nun’s priest, though both have taken vows of chastity. This view may be supported by his tale in which Chanticleer is exceedingly fond of his many wives:

This gentle cock had in his governance
Seven hens, for to do all his pleasánce,

Chaucer likes the Parson.  In his description of him in the General Prologue, he says that the parson knew his gospel and preached it devoutly.  He gave the church offerings to the poor.  He never neglected a parishoner in need no matter what the weather.  The Parson preached the belief that if the parishoners cannot trust and believe in their parish priest, or any man of God, then the parishoners cannot be expected to lead a good life when they aren't shown an example by their priest.  Chaucer goes on to say that the Parson did not give himself airs nor did he give himself any comforts.  The Parson was completely devoted to serving God and his parishoners.  Clearly this was what Chaucer felt all clergy should be like.  He shows us early in the GP, all the faults of the clergy through characters like the Monk, the Prioress, the Friar and then later, in the tales themselves, with the Canon and those who worked for the church (but were not clergy) - the Summoner and the Pardoner.  There are no other clergy that Chaucer likes and talks about at length besides the Parson.  The nuns who are with the Prioress are barely mentioned and another priest is given a tale to tell but is not described at length in the General Prologue.  Those clergy are given neither a positive nor a negative description.

Among Chaucer's characters of the Church, the Prioress and the Parson are most admirable. Although the Prioress is a bit affected in her manners, perhaps in an attempt to live up to the dignity of her position, she is nevertheless a sweet personality whose motto is "Love conquers all." Chaucer describes her as "pleasant and friendly," a woman with a heart so tender she would weep at the sight of an animal suffering, even a mouse in a trap.

The Parson, unlike the greedy Pardoner, is poor in worldly goods but "rich in holy thought and work." The Parson lives his faith:

He also was a learned man, a clerk,

Who truly knew Christ's gospel and would preach it

Devoutly to parishioners, and teach it.

Furthermore, the Parson did not like to take money from his poor parishioners; he instead gave to them from what little he had. Even though his parish was large, the Parson never failed to call upon those "in sickness or in grief," despite "rain or thunder." Chaucer sums up the goodness of the Parson in these lines:

Christ and His Twelve Apostles and their lore

He taught, but followed it himself before.

Unlike the despicable Pardoner, the Parson practices what he preaches. He is truly a devout Christian among the pilgrims.

I'm going to list all of the pilgrims associated with the church, and explain for each one if he/she is corrupt:

The Prioress: the head of the monastery.  She is polite, and very neat.  She is also described as being quite sentimental, but there is no specific mention of her being sinful.  It should be noted that she is quite rich, however, which is a violation of her vows.

The Nun: not described.

The Priest: not described

The Friar: described in much detail.   Although very "merry", he is greedy and corrupt.  He takes money for people in order to "forgive" their sins, but then pockets the money for himself.

The Monk: not really corrupt, but he spends his time not attending to his vows.  Instead, he attends to the needs of the Prioress and to his own pleasures.

The Parson: a pastor in the church, who is true to his faith and his vows.  Unfortunately, this makes him very poor.

The Summoner: an agent of the Church courts whose job it is to bring sinners before the court.  However, he will take their money as a bribe to not report their sins.

The Pardoner: also takes money to "forgive" people.  Besides this, he passes off junk as "relics" from Rome.

As you can see, Chaucer clearly paints the church as corrupt and greedy, and not at all concerned with religious vows and faith (save for the few).

Chaucer has nothing very positive to say about any of the members of clergy with the exception of the Parson.  In fact, there are only three truly positive characters in the whole lot:  The Parson, his brother, the Plowman, and the Knight.  It is possible that the Knight was spared due to his status in society.  It wouldn't do to offend the nobility.  However, the rest of the clergy all have unforgiveable foibles of greed, lust, deceit, gluttony, and failure to serve the people as members of the clergy are expected to do.  It is a definite commentary on the state of the chuch according to Chaucer.  Of course, it is a universal theme since even today there is a fair amount of hypocrisy on the church.