Among the key words that characterize the Jubilee as a strong moment in the life of the Church and as a social event, there is certainly Indulgence. What is it?
Indulgence is “one of the various forms through which the grace of forgiveness” continues to pour out “in abundance upon the holy faithful People of God” [1]. It is experienced in the perspective “of discovering how limitless the mercy of God is” and, as Pope Francis explains in the Bull of Indiction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025: “in antiquity, the term “mercy” was interchangeable with that of “indulgence”, precisely because it was intended to express the fullness of God’s forgiveness which knows no limits” [2].
The Apostolic Penitentiary has established the provisions for obtaining plenary indulgence during the Jubilee Year 2025, according to which, even before being “granted” as a “practice”, the indulgence must be “understood” and “lived” as a “gift of grace”. For this reason, the pastoral and moral commitment is to “stimulate the hearts of the faithful to desire and nourish the pious desire to obtain the indulgence” as a “unique gift, obtained by virtue of the mediation of the Church” [3] which, by virtue of the power to bind and loose, intervenes in favor of the faithful in Christ, revealing to them the treasure of the merits of the Son of God and of the saints, so that they may obtain from the merciful Father the remission of the temporal punishments that derive from the eternal punishment of sin [4].
Today, as yesterday, many men and women need simple signs and gestures, sometimes kneeling before a statue, kissing an image of Jesus, or even touching the relics of a saint. This shows how much God has created us with senses that serve to help us believe, hope and love. Indulgence is therefore that concrete sign that the Church offers in this Jubilee Year to all those who want to grow in faith to obtain happiness.
In its specific context, that is, the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation [5], it seems clear to us that indulgence must be understood, together with others, as a “means” of personal and community sanctification on the path of Christian life, “which also needs, as Pope Francis emphasizes, strong moments to nourish and strengthen hope, an irreplaceable companion that allows us to glimpse the goal: the encounter with the Lord Jesus” [6]. It seems to us therefore that the pious desire to obtain an indulgence, mentioned above, finds its founding splendor and its motivating force in the supreme desire for perfection and sanctity. As Alfonso M. de Liguori (1696-1787) writes in the Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ, “it gives the strength to walk” and “on the other hand it lightens the burden of the journey” [7]. For this reason, Alfonso de Liguori emphasizes again, “he who truly desires perfection never tires of advancing towards it; and if he does not tire, he will eventually get there. Whoever does not desire it will always go back and will always find himself more imperfect than before” [8], because “God is infinitely good to those who seek him with all their heart. Not even the sins we have committed can prevent us from sanctifying ourselves, if we truly want to sanctify ourselves” [9]. This requires above all a good confession.
In our humble opinion, this light allows us to “re-ascend” to the heart of the Jubilee Indulgence – as a step (back) to (re)discover the unlimited and unconditional mercy of God who always calls (cf. Spes non confundit, n. 23) and to “re-understand” the sense of the value inscribed in what is indicated in the “practice” as necessary for its obtaining, that is, “in addition to the exclusion of any affection for sin, even venial,” the commitment to “carry out the work of the indulgence and to fulfill three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer according to the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff” [10].
These provisions and conditions can be “simply satisfied”, which does not exclude the possibility of granting partial indulgences (cf. Norms, n. 7), or, as Paul VI specifies, “fully lived” in the perspective of a “healthy use of indulgences” which, “to remind us of the most important things, teaches first of all how ‘indulgences are not an end in themselves'”. 7), or, as Paul VI specifies, “fully lived” in the perspective of a “healthy use of indulgences” which “to remind us of the most important things, teaches first of all how ‘sad and bitter it is to have abandoned the Lord God” and adds further “how intimately we are united to one another in Christ and how much the supernatural life of each one can benefit others, so that they too can unite themselves more easily and more intimately to the Father” [11].
For this reason, the use of indulgences effectively stimulates charity and makes it exercised in an eminent way, when help is offered to the brothers and sisters who sleep in Christ” (cf. Indulgentiarum doctrina, n. 9). Paul VI also specifies that the purpose and task of the Church “in granting indulgences is not only to help the faithful make reparation for their sins, but also to encourage them to perform works of piety, penance and charity, in particular those which contribute to the growth of faith and the common good”. If, therefore, the faithful offer indulgences in suffrage for the deceased, they cultivate charity in an excellent way and, while they raise their spirit to heaven, they order earthly things more wisely” (Ibid., n. 8). This charity can also be put into practice through adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for half an hour.
Indulgence, in this Jubilee Year, is therefore a precious opportunity for all Christians to rediscover the essence of their faith and take concrete action through a good confession, an active participation in each Eucharist to benefit from the necessary graces. It is time to rekindle the flame of hope and to undertake a spiritual journey that renews not only the heart, but also the world.
Ngoie Kabila Jean Paul, SDB
Student of the Alphonsian Academy
(French original can be found here )
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[1] See Francis, Spes non confundit, n. 5.
[2] Cfr. Ibid., n. 23.
[3] See Norms for the Granting of Jubilee indulgences.
[4] Cf. CEC, n. 1478.
[5] Cf. CEC, nn. 1471-1479
[6] See Francis, Spes non confundit, n. 5.
[7] Cf. St. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori, Practice of Loving Jesus, Chapter VIII, n. 9.
[8] Ibid., Chap. VIII, n. 11.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Enchiridion Indulgetiarum, norm n. 20, §1
[11] Paul VI, Indulgentiarum doctrina, n. 9.
