The Catholic Church - Manual of Indulgences

Translated into English from the fourth edition (1999) of Enchiridion Indulgentiarum:Normae et Concessiones

UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS
Washington, DC

AA SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree Apostolicam actuositatem ( Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People ), November 18, 1965 (AAS 58 [1966] 837-864)

AAS Acta Apostolicae Sedis, Commentarium officiale

AG SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree Ad gentes ( Decree on the Churchs Missionary Activity ), December 7, 1965 (AAS 58 [1966] 947-990)

AP POPE BENEDICT XV, Motu proprio Alloquentes proxime , March 25, 1917 (AAS 9 [1917] 167)

Ap. apostolic

can./cann. canon/canons

CCC Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae ( Catechism of the Catholic Church ), August 15, 1997

CD SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree Christus Dominus ( Decree on the Pastoral Office of the Bishops in the Church ), October 28, 1965 (AAS 58 [1966] 673-701)

CE Caeremoniale Episcoporum ( Ceremonial of Bishops ), September 14, 1984

CIC 1917 Codex Iuris Canonici ( Code of Canon Law ), May 27, 1917

CIC 1983 Codex Iuris Canonici ( Code of Canon Law ), January 25, 1983

conc. concession/concessions

Const. constitution

CS POPE PIUS XII, Motu proprio Cleri sanctitati , June 2, 1957 (AAS 49 [1957] 433-600)

De Ben. ROMAN RITUAL, De benedictionibus ( Book of Blessings ), May 31, 1984

Decl. declaration

Decr. decree

DH SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration Dignitatis humanae ( Declaration on Religious Liberty ), December 1965 (AAS 58 [1966] 929-946)

DS DENZINGER-SCHNMETZER, Enchiridion Symbolorum Definitionum et Declarationum de rebus fidei et morum , ed. 33, 1965

EI 1968 Enchiridion indulgentiarum: Normae et concessiones ( Enchiridion of Indulgences: Norms and Concessions ), June 29, 1968

EI 1986 Enchiridion indulgentiarum: Normae et concessiones ( Enchiridion of Indulgences: Norms and Concessions ), May 18, 1986

gen. general

GS SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes ( Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World ), December 7, 1966 (AAS 58 [1966] 1025-1120)

ID POPE PAUL VI, Apostolic Constitution Indulgentiarum doctrina (On Indulgences), January 1, 1967 (AAS 59 [1967] 5-24)

IFI SACRED APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY, Decree In fere innumeris , July 20, 1942 (AAS 34 [1942] 240)

LG SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium ( Dogmatic Constitution on the Church ), November 21, 1964 (AAS 57 [1965] 5-71)

LH Liturgia Horarum ( Liturgy of the Hours ), April 7, 1985

RM Roman Missal ( Missale Romanum ), March 27, 1975

n./nn. norm/norms

OT SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree Optatam totius ( Decree on the Training of Priests ), October 28, 1965 (AAS 58 [1966] 713-727)

PA Apostolic Penitentiary

Paen. POPE PAUL VI, Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini , February 17, 1966 (AAS 58 [1966] 177-198)

PB POPE JOHN Paul II, Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus , June 28, 1988 (AAS 80 [1988] 841-912)

PL MIGNE, J.-P., ed., Patrologia latina , 1844-1855

Resp. Response

REU POPE PAUL VI, Apostolic Constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae , August 15 1967 (AAS 59 [1967] 885-928)

SC SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium ( Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy ), December 4, 1963 (AAS 56 [1964] 97-138)

SCR Sacred Congregation of Rites

SPA Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary

tab. table

Vg Vulgate

For it was from the side of Christ as He slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the wondrous sacrament of the whole Church ( Sacrosanctum Concilium , no. 5). Through the merits of Christs life, death, and resurrection, the whole of his body, the Church, benefits from the redemption which he has won for all. Intimately connected with the Sacrament of Penance, indulgences are given by the Church from her spiritual treasury to remit temporal punishment for sin. Thus, this Manual of Indulgences opens a special door to this treasury for all the faithful.

Indulgences are, in the words of Pope John Paul II, the expression of the Churchs full confidence of being heard by the Father whenin view of Christs merits and, by his gift, those of Our Lady and the saintsshe asks him to mitigate or cancel the painful aspect of punishment by fostering its medicinal aspect through other channels of grace (Pope John Paul II, General Audience, September 29, 1999).

At the request of His Eminence, Cardinal William Wakefield Baum, then-Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the USCCB Secretariat for the Liturgy has produced this English language translation in collaboration with the Holy See. Just as with the previous edition of the Manual of Indulgences , the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has gladly responded to the Holy Sees request for assistance in providing an English-language edition of the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum to the English-speaking world.

May this present volume serve as an encouragement to all the faithful who stand in need of Gods mercy.

Bishop William S. Skylstad

Bishop of Spokane

President,

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

April 23, 2006

The Second Sunday of Easter

Divine Mercy Sunday

NORMS AND GRANTS

APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY

Prot. N. 122/01/I

Decree

Pursuant to the request of His Excellency, The Most Reverend William Stephen Skylstad, Bishop of Spokane and President of the United States Conference of Bishops, by virtue of the faculties granted to this Dicastery by the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI, the Apostolic Penitentiary gladly approves the English translation of the fourth editio typica of the Handbook of Indulgences , insofar as it conforms to the amended original, and authorizes that it may lawfully published.

Inserted into said document must be the text of this entire Decree.

Moreover, two printed copies of the same publication are to be kindly forwarded to the Apostolic Penitentiary.

Anything to the contrary notwithstanding.

Given at Rome, from the Office of the Apostolic Penitentiary, October 12, 2005.

James Francis Stafford,

Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church

Major Penitentiary

Gianfranco Girotti, O.F.M.Conv.

Regent

APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY

Enchiridion Indulgentiarum ,
fourth edition (1999)

The infinitely precious merits of Jesus, Divine Redeemer of the human race, and their abundant progeny, the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints, have been entrusted to Christs Church as an unfailing treasury, that they may be applied to the remission of sins and of the consequences of sin, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing which the Founder of the Church himself conferred on Peter and the other Apostles, and through them on their successors, the Supreme Pontiffs and Bishops. This remission is given primarily, and in the case of mortal sins necessarily, through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

However, even after mortal sin has been forgiven and, as a necessary consequence, the eternal punishment it deserves has been remitted, and even if slight or venial sin has been remitted, the forgiven sinner can need further purification, that is, be deserving of temporal punishment to be expiated in this life or in the life to come, namely, in Purgatory. An indulgence, whose purpose is to remit this punishment, is drawn from the Churchs wonderful treasury mentioned above. The doctrine of faith regarding indulgences and the praiseworthy practice of gaining them confirm and apply, with special efficacy for attaining holiness, the deeply consoling mysteries of the Mystical Body of Christ and the Communion of Saints.