indulgence
Also known as plenary indulgence, partial indulgence, sale of indulgences
thumb|Inscription on the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in [[Rome: (English: "Perpetual everyday plenary indulgence on every occasion for the living and the dead")]] thumb|Apostolic Benediction and Plenary Indulgence Parchment, featuring picture of Pope Pius XII
AI overview
An indulgence is a Catholic Church practice that reduces or eliminates the spiritual penalty (purgatory) believed to follow from sin, even after the sin itself has been forgiven. The Church grants indulgences through certain religious acts or locations, and they matter because Catholics view them as a way to shorten their spiritual purification after death.
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Article
22 sectionsContents
- Catholic teaching
- Dispositions necessary to gain an indulgence
- Present discipline
- Subjects who have the power to grant indulgences
- Actions for which indulgences are granted
- Partial indulgences
- Plenary indulgences
- Special indulgences
- Apostolic Blessing
- Coronavirus plenary indulgences
- History
- Early and medieval beliefs
- Late Medieval usage
- Protestant Reformation
- Council of Trent
- Eastern Orthodox Church
- See also
- References
- Citations
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|Inscription on the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in [[Rome: (English: "Perpetual everyday plenary indulgence on every occasion for the living and the dead")]] thumb|Apostolic Benediction and Plenary Indulgence Parchment, featuring picture of Pope Pius XII
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes an indulgence as "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…"