In Pope Francis’ Misericordiae Voltus[1], he writes “a jubilee also entails the granting of indulgences. This practice will acquire an even more important meaning in the Holy Year of Mercy” (MV 22)
In this light the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra has come out with some programs for the year of mercy, and has designated some grottos as “shrines of indulgence” for the year of Mercy.
It is important therefore to look at what indulgence is noting that in modern catholic speech or thought it has received little or no mention. In this presentation, we shall look at background issues, what is indulgence? ,kinds of indulgence, who can receive indulgence, general conditions to obtain indulgence and the specific way in which we gain indulgence this year.
BACKGROUND
The first known use of indulgence was in 1095 when Pope Urban II remitted all penances of those who took part in the crusades and confessed their sins. Indulgence was also granted to those who could not go but made cash contributions to the efforts instead.
In early 1200s the church began to teach indulgence as a doctrine. In a decretal in 1343,Pope Clement declared “the merits of Christ are a treasure of indulgences”
THE PROBLEM
To complete the project of building St. Peters Basilica which was started by Pope Julius II (1505),Pope Leo X (1513) decided to promote indulgence in order to raise funds to complete the project.
Pope Leo went into an arrangement that essentially sold indulgence franchise of which part of the money was sent to Rome.
There were people who were given the right to sell indulgences.one of such persons was Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg, who claimed that his indulgences comes with a complete remission of sins.
It must be noted that the manner in which the doctrine of indulgence was preached was the problem. There were some overzealous “vendors” (priest) who were employed to sell indulgences. These vendors preached indulgence either to impress or to make more money. One of such was John Tetzel (a Dominican indulgence Vendor) was reported to have said in one of his sermons: “as soon as the coin in the coffers rings, the soul from purgatory springs” (IMAGINE!!!!). Secondly, indulgence was preached as if it was forgiveness of sins by itself. So the rich and the middle class began to buy forgiveness of sins for themselves, their children and grandchildren yet to be born.
This was what gave reason for martin Luther to begin to raise his voice against such distorted teaching and later on a lot more of our Catholic doctrines. This gave room for the Protestant Reformation to begin.
WHAT IS INDULGENCE?
The word is from the Latin indulgentia (kindness or favor) which in post classical Latin meant the remission of tax or debt.
In Roman law and the Vulgate of the Old Testament, Isaiah 61:1[2], it was used to express release from captivity or punishment.
In the sense in which we use it in the church and especially this year, it is the remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, the guilt of which has already been forgiven.
WHAT IT IS NOT
- It is not payment out of Hell.
Hell is a permanent penalty or punishment .indulgence takes care of only temporary punishment.
- It cannot shorten a person’s time in Purgatory.
The number of days used to attach to indulgences in the past was in reference to period penance that one might undergo on Earth and not about Purgatory. The Catholic Church does not claim to know how long purgatory takes. . Formerly, a partial indulgence was expressed to be an indulgence of a certain number of days or years. It was a popular misconception that these referred to the amount of time one’s stay in Purgatory would be reduced. However, they instead referred to the public penances performed in the early Church. In the early Church, a person would have to perform a certain public penance for a certain number of days, weeks or months depending on the gravity of the sin. A partial indulgence was meant to equate to the merits of the public penances of that duration.
- It is not Forgiveness of Sins.
Indulgence cannot be used to buy forgiveness. Its definition presupposes that forgiveness has already taken place in the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.
KINDS OF INDULGEANCE
- Plenary Indulgence
- Partial Indulgence
Plenary indulgence remits all temporary punishment. Partial indulgence in the other hand remits only part of the temporal punishment.
WHO CAN RECEIVE INDULGENCE
Indulgence can be gained for
- Onself
- Souls in Purgatory but never for living persons.
MATTERS ARISING FROM THE DISCUSSION ABOVE
SIN AND PUNISHMENT
Sin no matter how and when, is against the love of God. It is seen as a “fallen short”.
We must note that we are judged for every sin we commit. Ecclesiastics 12:14 says “For God would bring every deed to judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
CONSEQUENCIES OF SIN
There are two consequences to sin. There is
- Eternal Punishment.
Dan. 12:2 “and many of those who sleep in the dust of the Earth shall wake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt”
- Temporal Punishment.
Gen. 3:16 “to the woman he says, I will greatly increase your pain at child bearing, in pain you shall bring forth children”
The eternal punishment makes one incapable of eternal life. It is the kind of sin that deprives us of communion with God (ccc1472) in whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28) simply it is Hell. And this is for those who persist in sin and refuse repentance.
Temporal punishment on the other hand is punishment due to the sin we have repented from. When we repent from our sins god forgives us (Is. 1:18) and any eternal punishment (Rom5:9) but temporal punishment remain.
The story of David (in 2Sam.12:7-12) is a good illustration of what we mean by temporal punishment. In this story David is accused of murder of Uria and adultery with Uria’s wife Beershebar. Even though he repented and the Lord had forgiven him, he still had to suffer the loss of his son as well as other punishments. ( Numb 14:13-23;20:12;27:12-17)
Another example that can be considered is one who unfortunately contracts HIV/AIDS by fornication or adultery. When such a person is sorry and confesses he or she will be forgiven but would have to bear the disease. In this way one may think that then with the temporal should be remitted for the person to be healed or not die of the disease. Isn’t it? But the fact is that indulgence deal with spiritual activity.
AUTHORITY
Does the church have authority to grant indulgence?
Mtt 16:18 it is in the context of Jesus giving Peter the authority to forgive sins and lead the church. No authority below the Pope can grant the power of granting indulgence.
HOW TO GAIN INDULGENCE
Generally we can gain indulgence by the praying of the rosary, the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation,Eucharist Adoration etc.
Pope Paul VI in his encyclical on indulgence gives three conditions by which we can gain Partial indulgence in our daily lives:
- Those who by their life bear the trials of life patiently and in good spirit.
- Those who practice works of charity and mercy i.e. give their goods to help others.
- Those who undertake voluntary self-denial of legitimate pleasures.
Note however that it is partial indulgence which remits some of temporal punishment while Plenary indulgence remits all of the temporal punishment due to sin.
TO gain Plenary indulgence,
- Perform the indulgenced act;
- Have gone to confession 20 days before or after the indulgenced act;
- Pray for the Pope and his intentions;
- Go to Holy Communion the same day;
- Have no attachment to sin (one must pray daily for this!);
- Ask God for the indulgence when it is performed.
HOW TO GAIN INDULGENCE THIS YEAR
The kind of indulgence we gain in this year is Plenary. To gain the plenary indulgence in the jubilee year one must do all the above and also make pilgrimages to the Centers of Mercy (e.g. St. Sylvanus Catholic Church, Pokuase) and Grottos designated as such.
[1] It is the bull of indictment for the celebration of the Jubilee of Mercy. The bull is the fundamental document of the Holy Year that outlines the overall spirit and intentions of the Jubilee,as well as the spiritual fruit that are hoped for
[2] In spiritu Domini super me eo quod unxerit Dominus me ad adnuntiandum mansuetis misit me ut mederer contritis corde et praedicarem captivis indulgentiam et clausis apertionem.
By Fr. Delight Arnold Carbonu
