Over the past few years I have been involved in discussions regarding indulgences. At the beginning of this year our parish received a bulletin describing the Jubilee Indulgence which is a plenary one. I will quote a brief passage to the bulletin which speaks to the question I wish to propose. "A Jubilee Indulgence is only granted during a Church-proclaimed Jubilee Year - a rare occasion, indeed - and it is also plenary, which means "full". This means that one Jubilee indulgence completely nullifies all temporal punishment due to sins that have been committed up to that point in a penitent's life. In other words, if you died immediately after obtaining a Jubilee Indulgence (without sinning in that brief intervening time), you would bypass purgatory and go straight to heaven." While some detractors might jump on the Church's practice of giving indulgences (remember the Reformation?), in reading the Church's position on indulgences, one has to remember that the catch to all of this is that the penitent must request the indulgence with a "contrite heart". In other words, if the only reason he is performing the required action is to get a "free pass" to heaven then the plenary indulgence is not bestowed. However, that being said, and provided all requirements of the plenary indulgence are met, my question is: after earning a plenary indulgence, if one died immediately, would they bypass purgatory and go directly to heaven? A priest once told me that all indulgences (partial and plenary) applied to only the temporal punishment derived from venial sins and not mortal ones. I have never been able to verify this anywhere and I believe he may have mistaken. I would appreciate any comments you might have on this topic.

Ed

-- Ed Lauzon (grader@accglobal.net), December 17, 2000

Answers

ALL Temporal punishment is remitted. Remember that one must be forgiven of all sin committed and free of any attachment to sin to gain an Indulgence.

-- Br. Rich SFO (repsfo@prodigy.net), December 17, 2000.