What Are Indulgences?
Indulgences are one of the Catholic Church’s most misunderstood teachings, and there are various myths surrounding them. For example, up until the sixteenth century, many believe the Church formally taught that the sale of indulgences was morally permissible. These myths, however, are untrue and built upon misinformation.
An indulgence is a dispensation or grant of God’s mercy that removes the temporal punishment due to one’s sins whose guilt has already been forgiven—normatively through the sacrament of penance (commonly known as confession). This dispensation is made possible through the Church’s treasury of merits, which “is the infinite value . . . which Christ’s merits have before God,” plus the prayers and good works of the faithful, which have merit in Jesus (CCC 1476-1477).
In short, after God forgives one’s sins, there typically remains temporal punishment due as a result of that sin. An indulgence is what lessens, or removes, that remaining punishment. It’s kind of like the kid who breaks his neighbor’s window. The neighbor can forgive the child for the offense, and yet the kid still needs to help pay for the broken window.
Similarly, even if one has repented and received forgiveness for his sins, that doesn’t necessarily mean he has fully detached from the bad habits associated with his sins. Thus the need to do penance, and benefiting from the merciful remission of the related punishment granted though an indulgence.
Partial and Plenary Indulgences
There are two main types of indulgences: partial and plenary.
A partial indulgence removes a portion or part of the temporal punishment due to our sins, while a plenary indulgence removes all of the temporal punishment. So, how do plenary indulgences work? The Church gives clear conditions to obtain one: sacramental confession, reception of Holy Communion; prayer for the pope; complete detachment from all sin, including venial sins; and completing the prescribed work, e.g., prayerfully meditating on Sacred Scripture for at least a half hour.
Can an Indulgence Buy Your Way Out of Hell, or Even Purgatory?
No. an indulgence can’t “buy” anything. It’s not the proverbial “Get Out of Jail” free card to atone for future sins, let alone a means to bribe God to gain heaven irrespective of true repentance. Nor, as noted, can one even purchase remission of temporal punishment as a penitential shortcut—and thus minus detachment from one’s already forgiven sins. Anyone who attempts to profit from such a pseudo-sacred transaction commits grave sin, and the recipient obtains the spiritual equivalent of fool’s gold.
An indulgence is a gift from God, given through the Church as an expression of the Church’s God-given power to bind and loose (Matt. 16:18-19; 18:15-18). Indulgences help turn our gaze inward to grow in holiness, upwards towards greater union with God, and outward toward to others to give them a faithful witness through our word and deed (Col. 3:17; see 1 Pet. 3:15).
Did the Catholic Church Sell Indulgences?
It is important to distinguish between the blasphemous “selling” of indulgences and the granting of an indulgence whose work includes almsgiving for a legitimately sacred purpose.
During the sixteenth century, Pope Leo X granted special indulgences to those who gave alms to help fund the gradual replacement of St. Peter’s Basilica, including so that it could easily accommodate many thousands of pilgrims on a daily basis. Like all indulgences, it required that the indulgenced work—in this case almsgiving for the basilica—be committed while in a state of grace and accompanied by sincere penitential prayer. It is unsurprising that giving alms can remove temporal punishment, since Sacred Scripture goes as far as teaching “almsgiving atones for sin” (Sir. 3:30). While some Christians argue that Sirach is not a true biblical book, Joe Heschmeyer makes the case that the same principles are taught in undisputed books of the New Testament, e.g., in 2 Corinthians 9:6-13.
Such genuine almsgiving should be distinguished from the corrupt teaching of some Catholics, namely, the German Dominican Johann Tetzel, who did preach the sale of indulgences. Known for his jingle,
As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs!
Tetzel is a key example of how the Church’s teachings can be twisted for one’s own fleeting monetary benefit. The Church has never taught—and never will teach—that simply giving money will forgive your sins, remit your temporal punishment, or free a soul from purgatory.
Martin Luther righty objected to these abuses in his 95 Theses, although Luther did not categorically oppose indulgences, in contrast to many what Christians believe today. In addition, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) specifically condemned the abuses and made stricter reforms. Furthermore, in 1567, St. Pope Pius V removed all indulgences that could be obtained by giving alms to prevent these abuses from reoccurring. Another pope could modify this discipline, even if that’s unlikely for the aforementioned concern for abuse.
Examples of Indulgences
Common examples of indulgences from Handbook of Indulgences (New York: Catholic Book Publishing, 1991) include:
- An act of spiritual communion, expressed in any devout formula whatsoever, is endowed with a partial indulgence.
- A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who devoutly spend time in mental prayer.
- A plenary indulgence is granted when the rosary is recited in a church or oratory or when it is recited in a family, a religious community, or a pious association. A partial indulgence is granted for its recitation in all other circumstances.
- A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who read Sacred Scripture with the veneration due God’s word and as a form of spiritual reading. The indulgence will be a plenary one when such reading is done for at least one-half hour [provided the other normal conditions are met].
- A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who devoutly sign themselves with the cross while saying the customary formula: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
Additionally, during a Jubilee Year, like Jubilee 2025, the Church grants special indulgences. Ironically, certain non-Catholic Christians who teach “once saved, always saved”—also called eternal security—espouse the ultimate plenary indulgence, since they believe one could gravely sin unto death, not repent, but become detached from his disordered love of his sins given the person’s one-time, allegedly irrevocable acceptance of Christ’s gift of salvation.
How Do You Obtain an Indulgence?
To obtain any indulgence, you must first be a Catholic in a state of grace because—apart from God’s grace, no works are pleasing to God. (In addition, God could possibly grant an indulgence to a Christian not in full communion with his Church.) You also must have the intention of gaining an indulgence through the act performed.
To gain a partial indulgence, you must perform with a contrite heart the work associated with the indulgence. To gain a plenary indulgence you must perform the work with a contrite heart, plus go to confession, receive Holy Communion, and pray for the pope’s intentions all within about a twenty-day period. The final condition is that you must be free from all attachment to sin, including venial sin. If you attempt to receive a plenary indulgence, but are unable to meet the last condition, you still receive a partial indulgence.
Are Indulgences in the Bible?
While Scripture doesn’t explicitly use the word “indulgence,” it certainly expresses the principles behind them. For example, God punishes those who sin despite forgiving them, including King David and Bathsheba, who lost their child conceived in adultery even though they repented (2 Sam. 12:1-23). In addition, although a born-again Christian may be saved through baptism, he still suffers the temporal punishment due to Adam and Eve’s original sin: toil in labor, birth pains, concupiscence, and death.
Scripture shows believers are capable of helping others through prayer (2 Cor. 1:6; Col 1:24, Jas. 5:16)—even those who have died (2 Macc. 12:43-45; see 2 Tim 1:16;). Scripture also instructs us to store up our treasure in heaven, not earth (Matt. 6:20). These passages support the Church’s teaching that we can gain an indulgence for ourselves or obtain one in Christ for a soul in purgatory.
How Does the Church Grant Indulgences?
Since Christ gave the Catholic Church the authority to bind and loose (Matt 16:18-19), first to St. Peter and then to the other apostles (Matt. 18:15-18), that authority includes the power to apply the treasury of merit to the faithful through grants of indulgence.
This is why an indulgence is a remission of temporal punishment, not forgiveness itself. As Dr. John Bergsma puts it, since the Catholic Church is the spouse of Christ, she has the power to write a check from the treasury of merits to benefit her children, helping them heal from the disorder that they’ve introduced into their own souls and the world otherwise.
We Need Indulgences, and So Do Souls in Purgatory
Ultimately, indulgences are divine gifts that the Church enables us to receive. They remind us that sin has real effects and that God, in his mercy, gives us the means on earth to heal these spiritual and related wounds. Indulgences help us grow in holiness, letting us share in the Church’s gracious mission of promoting God’s merciful love. Through the application of these spiritual aids to ourselves and others, specifically the souls in purgatory, we become more like Christ and his saints. Because souls in purgatory can no longer merit anything for themselves, they depend on our prayers and petitions. When we obtain indulgences for the souls in purgatory, we actively take part in God’s redemption of both the living and the dead.
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