Indulgences
Objection: “Indulgences are nothing more than a permission to sin.
It is a money-making exercise through which Catholics think they can
buy their way into heaven!”
The doctrine of indulgences was the very doctrine that triggered the
Protestant Revolt in 1517. It is probably the least understood teaching of
the Catholic Church. Only the ignorant or prejudiced take it to mean that
the Church grants a license or permission to sin.
What then is an indulgence?
An indulgence is simply a remission through the infinite merits of Jesus
Christ and His Saints, of the temporal punishment due for sins committed
after guilt and eternal punishment have been remitted by God.
That Our Lord has given the Church the power of granting indulgences is
implied in Scripture: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (St. Matt. 16:19).
St. Paul provides a clear example of the Church using this power with
respect to the incestuous Corinthian upon whom he had imposed a severe
penance. After learning of the Corinthian’s fervent sorrow, St. Paul
absolved him of the penance which he had imposed, saying: “For, what I
have pardoned, if I have pardoned anything, for your sakes have I done it in
the person of Christ” (2 Cor. 2:10).
In this example we have the elements of a true indulgence: (i) a penance
(temporal punishment) imposed on the Corinthian by St. Paul; (ii) sorrow
on the part of the sinner for his crime; (iii) the relaxation of the penance by
St. Paul (the indulgence); (iv) the relaxation done in the “person of Christ.”
An indulgence may be plenary or partial according to whether it removes
all or part of the temporal punishment due to sin. The requirements laid
down by the Church for gaining a plenary indulgence are (i) performance
of the indulgenced work––for example, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
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