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S i d e b a r
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON INDULGENCES
By James Akin
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This Rock
Volume 5, Number 11
 November 1994 
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1471. The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the
Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of penance.
"An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal
punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which
the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed
conditions through the action of the church which, as the minister
of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of
the satisfactions of Christ and the saints" (Indulgentarium
Doctrina norm 1).
"An indulgence is partial or plenary according as
it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin"
(ibid. norm 2, norm 3).
Indulgences may be applied to the living or the dead.
1472. To understand this doctrine and practice of the
Church, it is necessary to understand that sin has a double consequence.
Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us
incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the "eternal
punishment" of sin. On the other hand, every sin, even venial,
entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified
either here on earth or after death in the state called purgatory.
This purification frees one from what is called the "temporal
punishment" of sin. These two punishments must not be conceived
of as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God from without, but as following
from the very nature of sin. A conversion which proceeds from a fervent
charity can attain the complete purification of the sinner in such
a way that no punishment would remain (Council of Trent [1551]: Denzinger-Schonmetzer
1712-1713; [1563]: 1820).
1473. The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion
with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but
temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings
and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death,
the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin
as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well
as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely
the "old man" and to put on the "new man" (Eph.
4:22, 24).
1474. The Christian who seeks to purify himself of
his sin and to become holy with the help of God's grace is not alone.
"The life of each of God's children is joined in Christ and through
Christ in a wonderful way to the life of all the other Christian brethren
in the supernatural unity of the Mystical Body of Christ, as in a
single mystical person" (Indulgentarium Doctrina 5).
1478. An indulgence is obtained through the Church
who, by virtue of the power of binding and losing granted her by Christ
Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for
them the treasury of the metis of Christ and the saints to obtain
from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishments
due for their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to
the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion,
penance, and charity (Indulgentarium Doctrina 5).
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