What do catholics mean by indulgence

On the other hand, the pope can empower a cleric who is not a priest to give an indulgence St. Thomas , "Quodlib. Dispositions necessary to gain an indulgence The mere fact that the Church proclaims an indulgence does not imply that it can be gained without effort on the part of the faithful. From what has been said above, it is clear that the recipient must be free from the guilt of mortal sin.

Furthermore, for plenary indulgences, confession and Communion are usually required, while for partial indulgences, though confession is not obligatory , the formula corde saltem contrito , i. It is also necessary to have the intention , at least habitual, of gaining the indulgence. For details see "Raccolta". Authoritative teaching of the Church The Council of Constance condemned among the errors of Wyclif the proposition: "It is foolish to believe in the indulgences granted by the pope and the bishops " Sess.

It is therefore of faith de fide that the Church has received from Christ the power to grant indulgences, and that the use of indulgences is salutary for the faithful. Basis of the doctrine An essential element in indulgences is the application to one person of the satisfaction performed by others.

This transfer is based on three things: the Communion of Saints , the principle of vicarious satisfaction, and the Treasury of the Church. The communion of saints "We being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another" Romans As each organ shares in the life of the whole body, so does each of the faithful profit by the prayers and good works of all the rest—a benefit which accrues, in the first instance, to those who are in the state of grace, but also, though less fully, to the sinful members.

The principle of vicarious satisfaction Each good action of the just man possesses a double value: that of merit and that of satisfaction, or expiation. Merit is personal, and therefore it cannot be transferred; but satisfaction can be applied to others, as St. Paul writes to the Colossians of his own works: "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ , in my flesh, for his body, which is the Church.

John declares in his First Epistle , "is the propitiation for our sins : and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. These are added to the treasury of the Church as a secondary deposit, not independent of, but rather acquired through, the merits of Christ. Thomas In IV Sent. As Aquinas declares Quodlib. The existence of an infinite treasury of merits in the Church is dogmatically set forth in the Bull "Unigenitus" , published by Clement VI , 27 Jan.

V, tit. This treasure He neither wrapped up in a napkin nor hid in a field, but entrusted to Blessed Peter , the key-bearer, and his successors , that they might, for just and reasonable causes, distribute it to the faithful in full or in partial remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. For the same reason, Pius VI branded as false , temerarious, and injurious to the merits of Christ and the saints , the error of the synod of Pistoia that the treasury of the Church was an invention of scholastic subtlety Enchiridion, According to Catholic doctrine , therefore, the source of indulgences is constituted by the merits of Christ and the saints.

This treasury is left to the keeping, not of the individual Christian , but of the Church. Consequently, to make it available for the faithful , there is required an exercise of authority, which alone can determine in what way, on what terms, and to what extent, indulgences may be granted. Since the sacramental forgiveness of sin extends both to the guilt and to the eternal punishment , it plainly follows that the Church can also free the penitent from the lesser or temporal penalty.

This becomes clearer, however, when we consider the amplitude of the power granted to Peter Matthew : "I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

Matthew , where like power is conferred on all the Apostles. No limit is placed upon this power of loosing, "the power of the keys ", as it is called; it must, therefore, extend to any and all bonds contracted by sin , including the penalty no less than the guilt. When the Church , therefore, by an indulgence, remits this penalty, her action, according to the declaration of Christ , is ratified in heaven. That this power, as the Council of Trent affirms, was exercised from the earliest times, is shown by St.

Paul's words 2 Corinthians in which he deals with the case of the incest man of Corinth. The sinner had been excluded by St. Paul's order from the company of the faithful , but had truly repented. Hence the Apostle judges that to such a one "this rebuke is sufficient that is given by many" and adds: "To whom you have pardoned any thing, I also.

For what I have pardoned, if I have pardoned anything, for your sakes have I done it in the person of Christ. These essentials persist in the subsequent practice of the Church , though the accidental features vary according as new conditions arise.

During the persecutions , those Christians who had fallen away but desired to be restored to the communion of the Church often obtained from the martyrs a memorial libellus pacis to be presented to the bishop , that he, in consideration of the martyrs' sufferings, might admit the penitents to absolution , thereby releasing them from the punishment they had incurred. Tertullian refers to this when he says To the Martyrs 1 : "Which peace some, not having it in the Church , are accustomed to beg from the martyrs in prison ; and therefore you should possess and cherish and preserve it in you that so you perchance may be able to grant it to others.

In the first part of his treatise "De pudicitia" , he attacks the pope for his alleged laxity in admitting adulterers to penance and pardon, and flouts the peremptory edict of the "pontifex maximus episcopus episcoporum". And, again, "How can the oil of thy little lamp suffice both for thee and me? It is sufficient to note that many of his arguments would apply with as much and as little force to the indulgences of later ages.

During St. Cyprian's time d. Between these extremes, St. Cyprian holds the middle course, insisting that such penitents should be reconciled on the fulfillment of the proper conditions. On the one hand, he condemns the abuses connected with the libellus , in particular the custom of having it made out in blank by the martyrs and filled in by any one who needed it. Cyprian , therefore, believed that the merits of the martyrs could be applied to less worthy Christians by way of vicarious satisfaction, and that such satisfaction was acceptable in the eyes of God as well as of the Church.

After the persecutions had ceased, the penitential discipline remained in force, but greater leniency was shown in applying it.

Cyprian himself was reproached for mitigating the "Evangelical severity" on which he at first insisted; to this he replied Epistle 52 that such strictness was needful during the time of persecution not only to stimulate the faithful in the performance of penance, but also to quicken them for the glory of martyrdom ; when, on the contrary, peace was secured to the Church , relaxation was necessary in order to prevent sinners from falling into despair and leading the life of pagans.

Such an attitude opposes contrition and any effort at conversion. As an example of what dispositions and conditions are required for indulgences, we have the current decree of the Year of St.

As a general rule, and the St. Joseph decree follows it, a plenary indulgence is granted under the following conditions: the penitent must perform the work to which the indulgence is attached see sidebar for works attached to the Year of St. The penitent must also have the disposition of being detached from any sin to receive the plenary indulgence. If this disposition is less than complete or if the conditions are not fulfilled, then the indulgence will be partial, as long as the penitent has a contrite heart and performs at least a part of the actions.

There will be few people who would disagree that the most challenging aspect of these requirements is not the conditions, especially for someone who already prays and celebrates the sacraments.

Neither are the works to be performed very burdensome — most often they consist of prayer, reading Scripture, or corporal or spiritual works of mercy, etc. The truly challenging aspect is the detachment from any sin. A person may be contrite for his or sins, but detachment from any and all sin is another matter. Jesus said these words after telling a rich young man and the apostles that they had to be perfect. The young man went away sad and the apostles said it was impossible.

Jesus, however, did not say they had to do it on their own power. He said to them, follow me. In other words, Jesus was telling the man and the apostles to subordinate everything to a relationship with God, and through that relationship one would be united to God, the proper end of every man and woman.

In a similar way, the Church is using the gift of indulgences to help men and women follow Jesus to heaven. The Church knows that by himself or herself, an individual cannot advance in holiness or perfection teleios. The devastating effects of sin and the evil that exists in the world are impossible to overcome without the grace of God and the practice of virtue.

Indeed, on this side of heaven there is always the danger of choosing to sin again, even if one has received an indulgence. But if the person remains close to Jesus and follows him, then he or she will enjoy the fullness of salvation. So, why not offer a way to help a person become whole-hearted in his pursuit of God? Indulgences are not a requirement of faith or a precept of the Church, but to the person who uses them well, indulgences gradually train one in virtue and discipleship.

They help people turn away from sin and toward God and neighbor by recommending prayer and works of mercy. In fact, a penitent on earth as a suffering member of the communion of saints may ask God to apply an indulgence gained not to oneself but to someone in purgatory so that person may be more swiftly purified and enter heaven. One person may be freed immediately from an attachment to, say, alcohol or pornography.

Another person may see relief only after years of effort or while in purgatory. As we develop habits of prayer and charity, we become a little less selfish, a little less greedy; we have a bit more patience, a more generous heart. We focus more on love of God and neighbor, and we allow Jesus to draw us to himself. A statue of St. Joseph is seen as Pope Francis leads his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican March Joseph on these occasions and manners indicated by the Apostolic Penitentiary.

If you do them all well, you will become super holy. Basically, the manual on indulgences is a manual on how to get holy. Do indulgences confuse you? What are some of your big questions surrounding this tradition?

Have you ever done anything extra-ordinary to receive a plenary or partial indulgence? Susanna Spencer has a masters in theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and serves as the Theological Editor of Blessed is She, and lives with her husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, reading good books, raising her children, casually following baseball, talking to her philosopher husband, and writing all about it at her blog.

You can find out more about her here. This article helped a lot but i am definitely still confused by indulgences. In my CCD classes we were always just taught that confession erases our sin — basically end of story. The first time i learned indulgences are still a thing in the Church was this year. Confession does erase your sin!

God forgives it, but it does not correct the disorder in the world. But if you think about how awful sin truly is, how we disobey the God who created us, who holds us in existence even when we go against His will, the sufferings we experience on earth are very little compared to the offense we give to God by even the smallest sin.

Jesus would have had to come and die if only one sin of ours was committed. Even when we go to confession and our forgiven, we still experience the toil that Adam and Eve and all their descendants were given as punishment for the Original Sin.

And these acts are not to be done out of fear, but truly out of love. It is love that should drive us to want to make up for the injustice of our sins against God. If I have caused disorder in the world by sinning, then I should out of love and thankfulness to my God want to make up for it as best I can. The Church attaching an indulgence to certain acts and prayers is like bonus grace. It is not necessary, but it is a gift to us to receive and earn even more grace.

It is the same thing with indulgences. The Church gives specific guidelines so that we know we are doing it the right way to receive grace. It is not to be hard and rigid, but to make the gift accessible to us. Hi Susanna. Your article have been quite helpful in deepening my understanding of indulgences. But i do agree with Jessica that why do we have to be aware that we are earning indulgences for it to work? Note the Church has continually condemned any abuse of indulgences, and the person performing the indulgence must have a sincere, contrite, and humble heart.

An indulgence is considered plenary or partial according to whether it expiates all or part of the temporal punishment due for sin. To gain a plenary indulgence, one must perform the work attached to the indulgence and make a sacramental confession, receive Holy Communion, and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father reciting one Our Father and one Hail Mary, or any other suitable prayer.

The conditions may be met several days before or after performing the work of the indulgence. A partial indulgence is gained by doing the particular work sincerely. The Enchiridion of Indulgences lists the norms and grants. Nevertheless, we must not forget that, as Pope Paul VI asserted, the Church grants indulgences so that the faithful will expiate sins and also encourage them to do works of penance, charity, and piety, which lead to a spiritual growth and strengthening of the Church.