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What is the Jubilee Year Indulgence—and How is it Obtained?

By Christopher Carstens

Not everything Catholic is easily understandable. The meaning and use of “indulgences” is one such element. Their apparent abuse at the time of Martin Luther and the Protestant rupture to which indulgences are irrevocably tied have made a complex practice even more difficult to comprehend. The resulting ignorance has hampered Catholics from taking full advantage of the spiritual goods which indulgences offer as occasions of grace, holiness, and solidarity with others—particularly during this Jubilee Year.

Indulgences rest on three premises: 1) sin, even after it is forgiven, has long-standing consequences; 2) all men and women, especially the baptized, are able—in fact, bound—to assist one another; and 3) the prayers, sacraments, and actions of the Church are a “salve” (not unrelated to “salvation”) to injuries and imperfections.

First, sinful, evil actions have many ill effects, what the Church calls a “double consequence.” A sin breaks our communion with God (in the case of serious sin) or at least weakens it (as in the case of a lesser or venial sin). This rupture is called by the Church the “eternal punishment” of sin, and it is remitted principally in the Sacrament of Confession or, as may be more aptly called in this discussion, of “Reconciliation,” since it reconciles us with God. In addition to the breaking or weakening of the relationship with God, sin also entails a “temporal punishment,” which is an unhealthy attachment to something other than God, a disordered way of thinking and acting.

Consider it this way: I may tell a lie about a coworker and, after coming clean, receive her forgiveness—but her reputation may be sullied and my propensity to lie remains, and for these I must make reparation. These are the “double consequences” of such a sin: 1) the broken communion with the one offended and from which I seek reconciliation and forgiveness and, even after forgiveness is received, the 2) consequences, such as her shattered reputation and my disordered deception. The practice of “indulgences” deals not with obtaining forgiveness (i.e., the first consequence of sin) but with these “temporal punishments” of sin (i.e., the second consequence). To “be perfect, as my heavenly Father is perfect” (see Matthew 5:48), these disorders need to be purged in the world to come in Purgatory, or in this life via prayer, charity, virtue, sacraments—and with the help of indulgences.

The second key to understanding indulgences is found in the bonds we share, not only naturally but especially supernaturally. A human being shares natural bonds with others, whether his family, city, nation, or race. In these relationships, we are required to show a certain solicitude toward others, and others in turn are bound to show us a degree of care. Justice, friendship, generosity, piety and other virtues help define the nature of relationships even before such relationships are considered Christian. Natural bonds are only strengthened with faith and the supernatural life. St. Paul’s analogy of the Church as the Mystical Body presumes the natural integrity and unity of a biological, human body. Not only do men and women care for one another from naturally altruistic motives, but all in the Church work for the good and salvation of others. Because I have sinned, “I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.” Thus, I pray the Confiteor at Mass for others; and others in turn pray for me. This supernatural ability we have to assist one another is likened to the “Church’s treasury,” provided by the merits of Christ’s saving death and resurrection, and available to all through the bonds of charity and love.

While the bad news is that the consequence of sin is disorder, a punishment not necessarily inflicted by God but brought upon ourselves from not living rightly, the good news is that we can help one another—even the dead “whose lives have changed, not ended”—to overcome temporal punishment. How we do help one another? One way is through indulgences. But we must understand one more thing about indulgences.

These gifts of Christ for his Church are not magic; they are not automatic and mechanical incantations that force God’s grace; they are not commodities that buy heaven or happiness—any more than sacraments, rites, or prayers are. Rather, an indulgence is the elimination, in full or in part, of temporal punishment due to sin when we sincerely and devoutly perform some approved prayer or action as a sign of our desire to see to the reparation of the damage caused by sin.

Take, for example, the Holy Father’s call to all Christians to become “pilgrims of hope.” Going on pilgrimage is not some superstitious segue from point A to point B that somehow equates with entering heaven. To go on a journey to a holy site is an image our own life’s long journey from earth to heaven. As in life, a pilgrimage may be difficult and penitential, but also prayerful and joyful—and hopeful. A Jubilee Year pilgrimage encourages us to travel in communion with God and with others and is a sign of hope in this world and for the next—it is a true spiritual good!

Today, indulgences are classified as either “plenary” or “partial.” The distinction is based first of all on the significance of the action: reciting the prayer “Angel of God” is considered a partial indulgence, while reciting the Rosary may be a plenary one—the latter deemed more important in the spiritual life. But we are also asked to carry out an indulgenced act with purity of heart; with such purity we receive the Christ-life, or grace, offered to us. When we carry out those most important indulgenced activities without sin, the “plenary” or full indulgence is granted, for these acts are performed with the purest intention and love. Insofar as we fail to meet this level of spiritual perfection, the indulgence is called “partial,” since the grace is not received by us in its full measure and, likewise, the “temporal punishment” of our sin is not fully repaired.

In addition to the indulgenced act, the Church provides us other prayers meant for our own spiritual good and that of others. The usual conditions for receiving a plenary indulgence, in addition to the act itself and being “free form all attachment to sin,” are 1) sacramental confession, 2) the reception of Holy Communion, and 3) prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father. The sacrament of confession may take place “several days” before or after the indulgenced act, but the reception of Holy Communion and the prayers for the Pope “fittingly” happen on the same day as the action. Also, while the customary prayers for the Holy Father’s intentions are an Our Father and a Hail Mary, any prayer said for his intentions may suffice. (Other details on indulgences are outlined in the Manual of Indulgences (“Enchiridion Indulgentiarum”). Like the graced-encounter with Christ during a pilgrimage, receiving the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist and praying for the pope are traditionally good things to do, serving to make the individual soul, the Church, and the world more Christ-like. The Church “spurs us on” to do such good works of devotion, prayer, and charity (see CCC 1478), and this encouragement to the good is the first principle of each indulgence.

The good that comes from the acts and prayers that make up the indulgence can be applied to the individual doing and praying, or to one who is deceased and purging his or her attachments to temporal goods. Again, this idea of sharing the spiritual benefits of indulgences with our neighbors, living and dead, should not be a challenge our belief: even the good on the natural plane—a father’s good job, or a city’s good police force, or a country’s good economic news—is felt by others and benefits them.

We should now be in a place to understand, appreciate, and celebrate the indulgences associated with the Jubilee Year.

According to the Decree on the Granting of the Jubilee Year Indulgence, during the Jubilee Year, the plenary indulgence is obtained by:

1. making a pilgrimage to a Jubilee site designated by Bishop Battersby (The Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman in La Crosse; The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse; Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Eau Claire; Church of the Resurrection Catholic Church in Wausau; Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Nekoosa) and, while there, participating in Mass or a celebration of the Word of God; praying the Liturgy of the Hours, the Way of the Cross, the Rosary, the Akathist hymn, or a penitential celebration (that concludes with individual confession);

2. making a pious visit to any of the above-named places and engaging “in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God”;

3. for those unable to make pilgrimage to such a place—such as the sick, elderly, the imprisoned, and homebound—the indulgenced act consists of uniting themselves in spirit with those taking part in person, in reciting “the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any approved form, and other prayers in conformity with the objectives of the Holy Year, in their homes or wherever they are confined…, offering up their sufferings or the hardships of their lives”;

4. performing spiritual or corporal works of mercy;

5.   expressing a “spirit of penance” by abstaining “from futile distractions (real but also virtual distractions, for example, the use of the media and/or social networks), from superfluous consumption (for example by fasting or practicing abstinence…), as well as by donating a proportionate sum of money to the poor; by supporting works of a religious or social nature, especially in support of the defense and protection of life in all its phases, but also by supporting the quality of life of abandoned children, young people in difficulty, the needy or lonely elderly people, or migrants from various countries…; it can also be obtained by dedicating a reasonable portion of one’s free time to voluntary activities that are of service to the community or to other similar forms of personal commitment.”

In addition to one of the above acts, the usual conditions for benefiting from an indulgence also apply:

1. Being free from sin (for a plenary indulgence),
2. receiving sacramental confession,
3. receiving Holy Communion,
4. and praying for the Holy Father’s intentions.

In the words of the Pope Francis, an “indulgence” is precisely an “indulgence on the part of the Father who, through the Bride of Christ, his Church, reaches the pardoned sinner and frees him from every residue left by the consequences of sin, enabling him to act with charity, to grow in love rather than to fall back into sin” (Misericordiae Vultus, 22). With clarity of mind and purity of heart, may the Jubilee Year’s indulgence lead to our salvation and that of the whole world.