What is a plenary indulgence?

Nino von Fruehlingsfeld

A plenary indulgence is the remission of all temporal punishment due to sin.

Perhaps I should explain what an indulgence is, or even before that what an indulgence is not! An indulgence is not forgiveness for sin; it is not permission in advance to commit sin; it is not a “get out of hell free” card. 

Five hundred years ago, Fr. Martin Luther (Yes, that’s right; FATHER Luther ― he was a Catholic priest you know) got very nervous when he heard a preacher named Tetzel who seemed to be selling indulgences and Fr. Luther worried that his parishioners were buying what they thought were tickets to heaven. That misunderstanding was the spark that set off the Protestant Reformation and Christianity in the west has been divided ever since.

So, what is an indulgence? 

You can find the complete explanation in the Catechism, paragraphs 1471- 1479, but I’ll add my little bit to the fuller description you’ll find there. Sin has a double effect. It is an offense against the infinite majesty of God, and it causes harm to those who commit sin and those whom sin affects.  For instance, if I get drunk and kill someone with my car, I have offended God. Only God has the right to give or take life. I've taken a life that was not mine to take. That is an offense against the infinite majesty of God. Meanwhile, I've ruined my own life, and the lives of people who loved and perhaps depended on the person whose life I carelessly ended.  

The good news is that God will forgive me if I repent and ask his forgiveness. The confessional is the regular place for that. Still, there is damage that has been done to my life and the lives of others. All of us here below are tied together in ways that we will understand only from heaven’s point of view. If we repent, God forgives us the eternal punishment we deserve, but there is still damage done in this world which needs healing. I need to undo as much of the harm to my own soul and the souls of those around me as I possibly can. 

In the early days of the Church long and arduous public penances were prescribed as a kind of medicine for the soul. When the church grew larger these elaborate public penances became impractical and so were changed to prayer and charitable donations, to which indulgences were attached. 

In its Latin root, the word “indulgence” meant a remission of taxes or legal obligations. In the spiritual sense the word came to mean a remission of the temporal punishment due to sin, and thus a plenary indulgence is the remission of all temporal punishment due to sin. Don’t forget that sin has a double consequence. God is eternal, that is outside time and space, the same yesterday today and tomorrow as the Bible says. God forgives the eternal alienation from His love that sin justly deserves. 

There is, however, a second consequence because we are temporal creatures. We live in time and space.  I need to do my best to put things right here and now, and if I’m not finished by the time I die, in His mercy, God provides purgatory, the process by which I can finish growing in perfect love for God and His people.

You might think this is contrary to the idea that grace is an unmerited favor given by God. Remember that God wants to adopt us. He wants us to be his sons and daughters as fully as Jesus is His Son. Jesus said that all that the disciples saw him do, they would do, and even greater things. (John 14:12) 

The Catholic teaching about indulgences is part of the idea of adoption. We are called to do what Jesus does. With Him, never apart from Him, I can participate in my own redemption and the redemption of others, (I can gain indulgences for other people. What a great gift! It’s certainly better than giving Dad a new tie on Father’s Day) we participate in Christ's work of redemption by prayer and works of charity. We can't reach heaven without Him, but we can help Him reach space and time and that is the very beautiful idea behind indulgences.

Sincerely,

Rev. Know-It-All