Chancellor compares the concept to fixing a broken window
By Agnieszka Krawczynski
The B.C. Catholic
When Pope Francis flung open the holy door in Rome for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, he welcomed pilgrims to come and receive indulgences.
Indulgences, he said, would clear away the effects of sin and strengthen their faith if they fulfilled the requirements.
“I wish that the jubilee indulgence may reach each one as a genuine experience of God’s mercy, which comes to meet each person in the face of the Father Who welcomes and forgives,” he wrote in September.
Indulgences, which have been around in the Church for centuries, are misunderstood by many.
Father Bruce McAllister, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, said the whole idea rests on a basic principle of justice.
“If I’m playing baseball in the back lane and I throw a ball through my neighbour’s greenhouse, I would of course want to go and ask for his forgiveness,” he said.
“But I should do more. I should make expiation. In other words, I should offer to pay for the glass and to pay for the installation. I make amends for the damage I’ve caused.”
Spiritual damage is harder to determine. So, in an effort to clear away the effects of a sin, a person can perform acts of penance.
Not making expiation “might turn forgiveness into a sort of cheap grace,” said Father McAllister. An indulgence operates the same way as penance after confession; it clears away the damage of sin.
“Generally, that’s the concept of punishment: not to appease an angry God, but to help us be healed.”
After Pope Francis declared the faithful may receive plenary indulgences during the Year of Mercy, Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, released a statement to help local Catholics understand what to do.
“I declare that the Christian faithful of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, having fulfilled the four conditions and in a spirit of total detachment from any inclination to sin, may benefit from the plenary indulgence if they partake devoutly in a sacred function or in a public pious exercise offered on any or all Fridays in the Jubilee Year of Mercy.”
The four conditions include making a sacramental confession, receiving Holy Communion, praying for the intentions of Pope Francis, and performing a good work. This could be, for example, praying an Our Father and Hail Mary, doing an act of charity with a prayerful disposition, or making a pilgrimage to enter a church through a holy door.
Those who can’t physically perform these works can spiritually join a Year of Mercy event.
Father McAllister said the Church introduced indulgences centuries ago when penances were particularly severe. “Sometimes people were required to fast for years.” Partial indulgences would reduce this time. Plenary indulgences would remove it altogether.
During this Year of Mercy, pilgrims in sincere sorrow for sin have a way to try to fix the damage they have done, just as a little boy has a chance to repair broken windows.
“He will experience full healing because he won’t be carrying that guilt around. He’ll feel better. He’ll be a more whole person because of it.”
Recipe for an indulgence
Faithful Catholics can gain a plenary indulgence during the Year of Mercy by filling four requirements. Within one week of doing the first (before or after) they must do the others, all in a spirit of total detachment from any inclination to sin.
1. Attend a sacred function or perform a public pious exercise.*
2. Make a sacramental confession.
3. Receive Holy Communion.
4. Pray for the intentions of the Pope.
Those who cannot participate, for example because of illness, may gain an indulgence by spiritually participating in Jubilee Year of Mercy events.
*Examples: making a pilgrimage to pass through the holy door at Holy Rosary Cathedral or performing an act of charity and praying the Our Father and Hail Mary.
