Benedict XVI has granted indulgences for those who take part in World Youth Day, and who fulfill the prescribed conditions for the Indulgence
• The plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who devotedly participate at some sacred function or pious exercise taking place during the XXVI World Youth Day in Madrid, including its solemn conclusion, so that, having received the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and being truly repentant, they receive Holy Communion, and devoutly pray according to intentions of His Holiness.
• The partial indulgence is granted to the faithful, wherever they are during the above-mentioned WYD, if, with a contrite spirit, they will raise their prayer to God the Holy Spirit, so that young people are drawn to charity and given the strength to proclaim the Gospel with their life.
What are indulgences? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1471 et seq)
• An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sin, whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the actions of the Church which, as the ministry of redemption, disposes and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the Saints.
• All Christian faithful can apply the indulgence to themselves or to the souls of the deceased.
• To understand this doctrine and practice of the Church it is necessary to remember that sin has a double consequence:
- Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the 'eternal punishment’ of sin.
- On the other hand, every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified, either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the ‘temporal punishment’ of sin.
Conditions for gaining Indulgences
• To be baptized
• To be in a state of grace
• To want to gain the indulgence
• To fulfill the other prescribed conditions determined by the Church for the Indulgence that one wants to gain:
Plenary Indulgence: to be repentant of one’s sins, to carry out the action required to gain the indulgence (in this case participate in WYD) as well as sacramentally confessing one’s sins, receiving the Holy Eucharist and praying for the intentions of the Pope (one Our Father, one Hail Mary, for example). One must also be free from all attachment from sin, even venial sin.
Partial indulgence: to be repentant of one’s sins and to carry out the required action to gain the Indulgence (in this case participate in WYD).
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• The partial indulgence is granted to the faithful, wherever they are during the above-mentioned WYD, if, with a contrite spirit, they will raise their prayer to God the Holy Spirit, so that young people are drawn to charity and given the strength to proclaim the Gospel with their life.
What are indulgences? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1471 et seq)
• An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sin, whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the actions of the Church which, as the ministry of redemption, disposes and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the Saints.
• All Christian faithful can apply the indulgence to themselves or to the souls of the deceased.
• To understand this doctrine and practice of the Church it is necessary to remember that sin has a double consequence:
- Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the 'eternal punishment’ of sin.
- On the other hand, every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified, either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the ‘temporal punishment’ of sin.
Conditions for gaining Indulgences
• To be baptized
• To be in a state of grace
• To want to gain the indulgence
• To fulfill the other prescribed conditions determined by the Church for the Indulgence that one wants to gain:
Plenary Indulgence: to be repentant of one’s sins, to carry out the action required to gain the indulgence (in this case participate in WYD) as well as sacramentally confessing one’s sins, receiving the Holy Eucharist and praying for the intentions of the Pope (one Our Father, one Hail Mary, for example). One must also be free from all attachment from sin, even venial sin.
Partial indulgence: to be repentant of one’s sins and to carry out the required action to gain the Indulgence (in this case participate in WYD).