After the publication of the Bull of Proclamation of the Jubilee 2025, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis published yesterday a note specifying the requirements necessary to receive the plenary indulgence.
Editorial (05/14/2024 10:15, Gaudium Press) On the day of the celebration of Our Lady of Fatima, May 13, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, as Major Penitentiary, issued a note about the plenary indulgences that will be granted during the Jubilee Year of 2025.
With the promulgation of the bull Spes non confundit (“Hope does not disappoint”), Pope Francis intended to place the Jubilee of 2025 under the virtue of hope, one of the three theological virtues. The statement from the Apostolic Penitentiary emphasizes that the plenary indulgence allows one to discover the infinite mercy of God and “is, therefore, a true grace of the Jubilee.” Indeed, the plenary indulgence restores the recipient to the state of their baptism, that is, purified of all sin.
The reception of the Sacraments
The Penitentiary, which defines itself as “a tribunal of mercy,” reminds of the usual conditions: Communion, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father.
“All the truly repentant faithful, excluding any attachment to sin (cf. Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, IV ed., norm. 20, § 1) and moved by a spirit of charity, and who, during the course of the Holy Year, purified by the sacrament of penance and strengthened by Holy Communion, pray according to the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, may obtain from the Church’s treasury the most complete Indulgence, remission, and forgiveness of their sins, which can be applied to the souls in Purgatory in the form of suffrage.”
However, to receive the indulgence, the faithful must undertake a pilgrimage or an act of mercy or penance.
A pilgrimage or a visit to holy places
Attending mass or a celebration at a place connected to the Jubilee during a pilgrimage will allow the faithful to benefit from the plenary indulgence. It will be possible to cross the Holy Door in one of the four Roman basilicas, the three basilicas of the Holy Land (the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the Annunciation in Nazareth), or any other place chosen by the local bishop. The pilgrimage must maintain “its symbolic strength, to manifest the ardent need for conversion and reconciliation,” stresses the note.
In addition to pilgrimages, a visit to a jubilee place can allow the faithful to savor God’s mercy: “There they will dedicate adequate time to Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Creed, and invocations to Mary, Mother of God.” The document, therefore, suggests well-known pilgrimage sites, but also a dozen Roman churches, the two basilicas in Assisi, national and international shrines, and any place the local bishop might choose.
For those who cannot travel for serious reasons – such as, primarily, all cloistered nuns and monks, the elderly, the sick, the imprisoned, as well as those who, in hospitals or other places of care, provide continuous service to the sick – “will receive the Jubilee Indulgence under the same conditions if, united in spirit with the faithful present, especially at the times when the words of the Supreme Pontiff or the diocesan Bishops are transmitted through the media, they recite in their homes or in the places where the impediment detains them – for example, in the chapel of the monastery, the hospital, the care center, the prison… – the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and other prayers in accordance with the purposes of the Holy Year, offering their sufferings or the difficulties of their life.
Works of Mercy
In addition to pilgrimages or visits to holy places, “the faithful may obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if, with a devout spirit, they participate in popular Missions, spiritual exercises, or training meetings on the texts of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which take place in a church or another suitable place, according to the intention of the Holy Father.”
Regarding acts of mercy, the faithful are invited to follow “the example and command of Christ” to rediscover “the corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the pilgrims, assist the sick, visit the prisoners, bury the dead” (Misericordiae vultus, 15) as well as the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, teach the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offenses, bear patiently with troublesome people, pray to God for the living and the dead.”
Through these gestures of mercy and in accordance with the spiritual provisions, the faithful may receive the plenary indulgence on various occasions, even daily.
Importance of Confession
The note also emphasizes the importance of acts of penance, particularly rediscovering the penitential value of Fridays: abstaining, in a spirit of penance, for at least one day from futile distractions (both real and virtual, induced, for example, by media and social networks) and unnecessary consumption.
The Penitentiary exhorts all priests to offer with generous availability and dedication the broadest possibility for the faithful to avail themselves of the means of salvation, by adopting and publishing schedules for confessions, in accordance with the parish priests or rectors of neighboring churches, being present in the confessional, scheduling penitential celebrations on a fixed and frequent basis, and also offering the widest availability of priests who, having reached the age limit, do not have defined pastoral duties.
It is also recommended that bishops facilitate access to the Sacrament of Penance, for example, by promoting and extending the availability of priests for confessions. The document reminds us of “the pastoral opportunity to hear Confessions also during the celebration of the Holy Mass.”
Finally, the plenary indulgence can be requested for oneself, but also for the souls in Purgatory: “Despite the rule according to which only one plenary indulgence can be obtained per day (cf. Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, IV ed., norm. 18, § 1), the faithful who have performed an act of charity on behalf of the souls in Purgatory, if they legitimately approach the Sacrament of Communion a second time on the same day, may obtain the plenary indulgence twice on the same day, applicable only to the deceased (understood within the context of a Eucharistic celebration; cf. can. 917 and the Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the CIC, Responsa ad dubia, 1, July 11, 1984).
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
