Plenary Indulgence

                                                                                                                                                             On Oct 5 2012 , Pope Benedict XVI announced that an offer of a Plenary Indulgence for the temporal punishment of sins, would be made to the Catholic faithful and also applicable to the deceased faithful, during this" Year of the Faith". This offer of a Plenary Indulgence is extended under several circumstances, including when the faithful during the course of a pilgrimage visits a papal basilica, a cathedral church or a holy site designated by the local ordinary ( for example, churches and shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Apostles and or patron saints), and there participates in a sacred celebration or at least remains for a congruous period of time in prayer and pious meditation, concluding with the recitation of the Our Father, the Profession of Faith ( either the Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed), and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and depending on the circumstances, to the Holy Apostles and/or to the patron saints.       
Many Catholics, not just pilgrims, probably will ask, what is a Plenary Indulgence and what will it do? Referring to the Catholic Catechism  1471," 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 thru the action of the Church.  An indulgence is partial or plenary as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sins." The faithful can obtain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.
The next logical question is, What is temporal punishment? The Catechism also answers this question, 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. This punishment must not be conceived as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God from without, but as following from the very nature of sin."  And from the next section of the Catechism, 1473 - "The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin but the temporal punishment of sin remains." In other words, the Catholic faith believes that we must still be purified before we enter Heaven. If we are not purified before we die , then the purification process will take place in Purgatory. The Apostle John said in Revelations 21:27, "Nothing unclean will enter Heaven." So all must be made clean before entering Heaven.
The good news is that that the Catholic Church provides a pathway to purification not just for the living but also for the souls already in Purgatory, Catechism 1478 - "An indulgence is obtained thru the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Jesus Christ, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishment due to sin. The Church does not want to simply come to the aid of these Christians but wishes to spur them to works of devotion, penance and charity." And in Catechism 1479 - "Since the faithful departed are now members of the same communion of saints, one way we can help them is to obtain indulgences for them, so that the temporal punishment due to their sins is remitted".
A reminder to Catholic pilgrims to remember this blessing from the Church during their pilgrimage in this "Year of the Faith".  Another incentive to make that pilgrimage!
For further information on Plenary Indulgence during this "Year of the Faith" click on

Plenary Indulgence for the Year of Faith

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