Indulgences: Why are they still with us?

 

 

We older folks in the pews grew up when indulgences were a large part of our  religious practice. I can remember on days like Holy Thursday traveling to different churches because , for each visit, I would receive a plenary indulgence. And then there were certain prayers that carried “7 years and 7 quarantines”. I never did learn when those quarantines were.

 

The Catholic Encyclopedia states that: “indulgence (from the Latin indulgeo, to be kind or tender) originally meant kindness or favor; in post-classic Latin it came to mean the remission of a tax or debt. The teaching of the Church stated that in the Sacrament of Penance the guilt is removed (eternal punishment), but there still remains the effects of the sin (temporal punishment). The Church further taught that the latter can be removed through performing a penance or good works such as serving the poor, etc. Pope Paul VI reaffirmed this doctrine in 2968 and it is included in the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church.(#1471)

 

In searching for contemporary information on this topic, I went to Richard McBrien’s Catholicism (a wonderful history and theological resource on all things Catholic). He tells us that the first actual indulgences appeared in France in the eleventh century where they were connected with almsgiving or promised to the Crusaders in return for their military service. By the middle of the thirteenth century the granting of indulgences multiplied and the need for doing some penitential good works declined. In some cases, money rather than good works earned indulgences. Unfortunately, they sometimes became a source of revenue and used improperly by persons within and outside the Church. Remember Chaucer’s “Pardoner” with his bogus relics and indulgences? When the bishops of the Church met for the Council of Trent (1563) they condemned such practices, but perhaps too late since those abuses were among the proximate causes of the Reformation.

 

So...yes, indulgences are still part of our faith tradition and they are part of our tradition of the Sacrament of  Penance/Reconciliation and Purgatory. Re. the latter we understand this as the process by which we are purged of our residual selfishness so that we can truly become one with God. Re. the former, watch for a future column for a full treatment!

 

McBrien maintains that the doctrine is best understood in the context of the whole mystery of the Christian existence, not the accumulation of “spiritual credits”.  We are all  members of the Communion of Saints, beneficiaries of Christ’s saving work on our behalf. We are all in  this together. We pray, we perform good works, we approach the sacraments, we seek to make atonement for our sins.

 

 

Sister Marie, O.P.