What is an indulgence and what is the tradition based on? Martin Luther was scandalised by the abuse of indulgences. What is the significance of indulgences today?
“From this moment, we entrust this Holy Year to the Mother of Mercy, that she might turn her gaze upon us and watch over our journey. Our penitential way, our way of open hearts, throughout one year, to receive the indulgence of God, to receive the mercy of God." These were the words the Pope pronounced concluding the penitential celebration in which he announced the new Extraordinary Jubilee dedicated to mercy. The final phrase, which mentions the word “indulgence”, was added spontaneously at the last minute. The plenary indulgence is traditionally connected with the Holy Year.
This was not the first time Francis mentioned the word. On 3 June 2013, Pope Francis granted the plenary indulgence to young people who took part in the World Youth Day celebration in Rio de Janeiro in the final week of July. The decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary introduced this new provision: “Those faithful who are legitimately prevented may obtain the Plenary Indulgence as long as … they follow these same rites and devotional practices via television and radio or, always with the proper devotion, through the new means of social communication.” Obviously not through mechanical repetition and on the condition that they partake in the sacrament of confession and Eucharistic communion. Another plenary indulgence was announced by the Pope on 25 March 2014 ahead of the Synod on the Family. This indulgence was granted to those who “in a spirit of penance and sincere contrition” went on a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Loreto and Lauretan places of worship in the Catholic world, reciting the “Prayer to the Holy Family” which the Pope himself had prepared for the Synod.
Although much of modern theology remains aloof from indulgences, what lies behind this act is a spirit of giving and of sharing “goods” for the benefit of the disadvantaged. Below is a small guide to indulgences, based on a doctrinal document issued by Paul VI and on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
What is an indulgence?
“An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned, (for which a person obtains absolution through confession, Ed.) which the follower of Christ with the proper dispositions and under certain determined conditions acquires through the intervention of the Church which, as minister of the Redemption, authoritatively dispenses and applies the treasury of the satisfaction won by Christ and the saints. An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due sin.” This is according to the Indulgentiarum doctrina, which Paul VI issued in 1967. Indulgence is therefore an act of the Church’s jurisdiction and allows baptised faithful who have confessed, taken communion and completed all acts required of them, to cancel the debt of “temporal punishment”.
What is “temporal punishment”?
Sin has two consequences. The first is a split from God, this is eternal punishment, hell in other words, and can be erased by going to confession and being readmitted to our state of grace and communion with God. But every sin, however minor, entails what Church Catechism refers to as an “unhealthy attachment to creatures”. This requires purification and deserves a “temporal punishment” which a person may (here the emphasis is on “may”, because we cannot know) still be bound by, regardless of forgiveness granted during confession. “If I offend someone and then want to reconcile myself with them, I must compensate him. This requires me to lower myself and a punishment. This is how it works between us men, this is also how it works with God and we Catholics fear that once the sin has been remitted, God will not put remit the whole punishment due if a sinner’s repentance is imperfect.” This second consequence of sin, temporal punishment that is, can be undergone on this Earth, through voluntary prayers and penitence, with charitable works and the acceptance of life’s suffering and trials. Or it can be undergone in Purgatory. Temporal punishment is not an act of revenge by God, it derives from the very nature of the sin committed.
On what basis does the Church give out indulgences?
It does so drawing on its one true treasure: Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and the saints. In the communion of saints, “there certainly exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth a perennial link of charity and an abundant exchange of all the goods,” Paul VI writes. In this exchange of goods, one person’s holiness helps others. Resorting to the communion of saints allows for a sinner’s speedier purification from sin. Those who have less are helped by those who have more. The Church grants indulgences based on the power of binding and loosing which Jesus gave to Peter. The power the church has to grant indulgences was ratified by the Council of Trent. In the Bull of Indiction of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, John Paul II wrote: “Having received from Christ the power to forgive in his name, the Church is in the world as the living presence of the love of God who leans down to every human weakness in order to gather it into the embrace of his mercy. It is precisely through the ministry of the Church that God diffuses his mercy in the world, by means of that precious gift which from very ancient times has been called “indulgence”.
What is the difference between a plenary indulgence and a partial indulgence?
A plenary indulgence involves the remission of the entire temporal punishment due to sins which have been forgiven during confession. A partial indulgence commutes only a certain portion of the penalty. Partial indulgences used to be quantified: there were indulgences for 100 or 300 days and for one or more years. The length of time was determined by how much remission could be obtained from many years or days of canonical penance according to the ancient discipline of the Church. But because many faithful mistakenly believed that it meant fewer days or years in Purgatory, Pope Paul VI decided to stop indicating periods of time for partial indulgences. Now, partial indulgence is not measured in terms of days and years but according to the actions of the faithful in question: the measure of a good deed is based on how much sacrifice it required and how much love it showed toward God.
What are the requirements for obtaining indulgences?
First of all the person must be in a position to receive them, they must be baptised (because the granting of an indulgence is an act of jurisdiction that can only be exercised on those who form part of the mystical body of Christ that is the Church. A person must be baptised in order to be a member of the Church). The person must not have been excommunicated because if they were they would not be able to participate in the Church’s indulgences and moments of public prayer. The state of grace is another requirement, because the debt of temporal punishment cannot be “written off” unless the guilt of sin and with it eternal punishment are removed through the sacrament of confession. The person requiring the indulgence must have the intention of acquiring it is not granted to those who do not want it. According to the Code of Canon Law, all the Church needs from a person is the general intention of acquiring an indulgence. This means all indulgences one is not aware of can be acquired, as long as they have the intention of acquiring all acquirable indulgences.
How does one acquire an indulgence?
The primary condition is a complete detachment from sin, including venial sin. Indulgences are in no way automatic: mechanically repeating certain practices in order to acquire them is not enough. If the fundamental condition of sincere repentance and a complete detachment from sin is not met, then the indulgence will not be plenary but partial. A person wishing to acquire an indulgence must go to confession (“Individual and integral” confession is required), take communion, pray according to the Pope’s intentions and perform the act that the Church attaches to the indulgence, for example visiting the Basilicas when there is a Jubilee. In order to actually acquire the indulgence a person must be in a state of grace, but this does not necessarily mean that confession must precede other conditions. A faithful may first fulfil the act that is attached to the indulgence (a visit to the Basilicas, an act of charity, etc.) and then go to confession. In this case, the indulgence is only acquired after confession.
