For this Divine Mercy Sunday, Father Rey asked that I discuss the mercy the Church offers in the form of indulgences and the special indulgences offered in this 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. We will begin with a general explanation of what an indulgence is and what it does for us. Then, we will cover the specific ways to earn indulgences during this Jubilee year as declared by Pope Francis for the entire Church, and how Bishop Dolan has provided opportunities for us here in our diocese.

Admittedly, throughout time, indulgences have been one of the most misunderstood practices of the Catholic faith. While it is true some individuals nefariously misused them in centuries past, the Church has made great efforts since to clarify their use and correct their abuse.

Let’s start with the two-part definition of indulgences found in the Catechism:

An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.

An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.” The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead. (CCC #1471)

When we commit sins against God or man and we are sorry, we are forgiven, and while Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins on the cross, we are not alleviated from the temporal consequences of our sins. Think of a little boy throwing a baseball through a neighbor’s window. The neighbor forgives the boy, and his father pays for the broken window to be repaired, but the boy still must do yardwork for his father or neighbor to pay off the debt incurred by his careless actions. In other words, the boy doesn't learn his lesson if he doesn't participate in repairing the damage that was done.

Likewise, our sins come with consequences. These cause us suffering which should be joined to the cross and applied as a reparation for those sins. We also suffer in other ways entirely out of our control, such as illness or injury. To be clear, I am not saying that God made you sick because of sins you committed. I am saying that when sin entered humanity in the Garden of Eden, so did suffering, and humanity, as a whole, endures that suffering as reparation for the sins of all mankind. God did not create suffering, but his infinite mercy allows our sufferings to benefit us on our journey to salvation as we pay our debts for the times we have not been our best.

As we live here on earth, our sufferings purify our souls. Then, whatever has not been purged out of us in this life will continue to be purged in Purgatory — another merciful gift — because “Nothing unclean will ever enter [heaven]” (Rev 21:27). Like the boy in my previous example, we are forgiven for our sins. Jesus paid our debt for those sins on the cross, but we need to suffer the consequences of sin so that we are purified and cleansed until we reach the point when we can finally enter heaven.

Now, according to the definition, an indulgence is something the Church grants to an individual, which removes the temporal punishment that is owed. The Church was given this authority directly by Jesus when he said to Peter, the first pope, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mat 16:19). The Church, headed by the pope, and always guided by the Holy Spirit, can issue indulgences as a merciful act for our poor, suffering, child-like souls.

The second part of the definition says we may receive either partial or plenary (complete) indulgences. In other words, it can be decided that we've either paid our debt in part or in full. When we receive a partial indulgence, only God knows how much or how little of that debt has been paid. While a plenary indulgence sounds like a great deal, it comes with a catch: complete detachment from sin, even venial sin. While this is something for which we should always strive, it can obviously be very difficult. Therefore, when someone seeks a plenary indulgence, unless they are already a great saint, they will likely only receive a partial indulgence. So, even the effects indulgences have on our souls require significant cooperation on our part and are not “get out of jail free cards.” Additionally, it is important to note in the definition, you can ask the Lord to apply your indulgences to those suffering in Purgatory either specifically or generally. This is because we are all part of the same mystical body of Christ and can help alleviate the suffering of the other members of the body.

Ultimately, there are many ways to gain indulgences prescribed to us by the Church. Let’s focus on the ones offered to us specifically in this Jubilee Year of Hope. The papal document, Decree on the Granting of Indulgence during the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025, called by His Holiness Pope Francis, identifies three ways to obtain indulgences this year.

1) Pilgrimages – “to any sacred Jubilee site: by devoutly participating in Holy Mass; a ritual Mass for the conferral of the sacraments of Christian Initiation or the Anointing of the Sick; or any of the following: a celebration of the Word of God; the Liturgy of the Hours…; the Via Crucis; the Marian Rosary; the recitation of the Akathist hymn; a penitential celebration, which ends with the individual confessions of the penitents, as established in the Rite of Penance…”

2) Pious Visit to Sacred Places – “The faithful can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if, individually or in a group, they devoutly visit any Jubilee site and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God, so that in this Holy Year, everyone “will come to know the closeness of Mary, the most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons her children” (Spes non confundit, 24).

3) Works of Mercy and Penance – “The faithful will be able to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if, with a devout spirit, they participate in popular missions, spiritual exercises, or formation activities on the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, held in a church or other suitable place, according to the mind of the Holy Father.”

If a member of the faithful can not participate in a pilgrimage or pious visit to a sacred place for serious reasons like illness, age, work, or prison, as examples, but have a disposition of repentance, they may unite themselves in spirit with others who are taking part in person. They ought to “recite the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any approved form, and other prayers in conformity with the objectives of the Holy Year, in their homes or wherever they are confined (e.g., in the chapel of the monastery, hospital, nursing home, prison...) offering up their sufferings or the hardships of their lives.” Then, they may receive the same spiritual benefits of the indulgence as those attending in person.

Pope Francis has declared many locations around Rome, Italy, and the Holy Land as approved pilgrimage sites and sacred places for the Jubilee year. There are too many to list here, but they include the four Major Papal Basilicas in Rome, the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and the two Minor Papal Basilicas in Assisi. If you plan to travel abroad, I strongly recommend reading the papal document mentioned earlier. Pope Francis also permitted each bishop to designate locations within their diocese for easy travel for their local flocks.

In the Diocese of Phoenix, Bishop John Dolan has designated the following locations as approved pilgrimage sites and sacred places for the Jubilee year: Chapel of the Holy Cross (Sedona), Sacred Heart (Prescott), St. Anthony (Sacaton), St. Mary (Kingman), St. Mary's Basilica (Phoenix), and Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral (Phoenix). You have until December 28, 2025, to visit any of these locations to gain a plenary indulgence if you meet all of the necessary conditions according to the norms of the law, or a partial indulgence if you fall short.

If you would like to learn more about indulgences — either in general or specifically about the indulgences offered during the Jubilee Year of Hope, I invite you to my presentation, Indulgences: A Gift of Mercy for the 2025 Jubilee Year, which will be offered on Wednesday, April 30 here at Corpus Christi at 9:30am and again at 6:30pm.

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