Year of the Eucharist

Plenary Indulgence

for Visits to

Pilgrimage Churches

A plenary indulgence will be granted to people who visit one of the designated

pilgrimage parishes in the diocese during the Year of the Eucharist, which began in April and ends in June 2011.

According to 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.”

What does that mean?

The Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops explains: “Indulgences are a part of the church’s teaching on the forgiveness of sins. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we receive forgiveness for our sins, and all punishment is remitted. Through the Sacrament of Penance, sins are also forgiven, and the eternal penalty that is due to sin – namely, damnation, the eternal loss of the presence of God – is taken away. However, consequences still remain that the sinner must bear. This is what is traditionally called the temporal punishment for sin. By its very nature, every sin inevitably causes suffering for the one who has committed it. Every sinful act creates disorder within the soul of the human person. Sin also disrupts one’s relationships with God, with the church, with other people, and with the world as a whole. Those who have received forgiveness for their sins may still have an obligation to undergo a process of purification and to restore these disrupted

relationships. The necessary and painful process that brings this reconciliation and purification can take place either in this life or in Purgatory, because whatever part of the process remains unfinished at death must be completed in Purgatory. Through an indulgence, God grants that through the prayer of the church the temporal penalty for sin due to someone be reduced (as in the case of a partial indulgence) or be eliminated (as in the case of a plenary indulgence). By God’s grace, participation in a prayer or action that has an indulgence attached to it brings about the necessary reconciliation without the suffering that would normally accompany it. The granting of an indulgence by the church is ‘the expression of the church’s full confidence of being heard by the Father when – in view of Christ’s merits and, by his gift, those of Our Lady and the saints – she asks him to mitigate or cancel the painful aspect of punishment by fostering its medicinal aspect through other channels of grace.”

Official Letter from the Vatican:

Here is a copy of the letter recently received by Bishop Peter Sartain from the

Vatican that approves plenary indulgences during the Year of the Eucharist:

James Peter Sartain, Bishop of Joliet-in- Illinois, with the deepest heartfelt devotion which is shared by the clergy and the faithful, joyfully proposes in a special letter to Your Holiness that a Diocesan Eucharistic Year be proclaimed for their pastoral care from the f irst day of the month of April, the fifth day of Holy Week, to the 25th day of June 2011, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  Celebrating this Diocesan Eucharistic Year, Pious Eucharistic Adoration and Sacred Pilgrimages to the chapel of perpetual adoration will be instituted within the boundaries of the Joliet Diocese. Relying on Divine Mercy, the Bishop earnestly trusts that great benefit will come from these solemn celebrations for the Christian faithful. Vigorously pursuing this desired end, the gift of Indulgences will support the witness of Your Holiness’ paternal goodness so that the hierarchical and filial bond toward Your Holiness may be strengthened throughout the whole Diocese.

By the Grace of God: On the 19th Day of March 2010, the Apostolic Penitentiary, by mandate of the Pope, benevolently grants a Plenary Indulgence, with the customary conditions (Sacramental Confession, Eucharistic Communion and Prayer for the intentions of the Pope) being properly fulfilled, to the truly repentant Christian faithful from the first day of April 2010 to the 25th day of June 2011:

• if one of them should even so much as visit one of the designated churches for

the purpose of pilgrimage and, there, rest in the presence of the Most Blessed

Sacrament having been exposed for the veneration of the faithful;

• or, piously keeps watch over the Most Blessed Sacrament present in the tabernacle or be present for any other sacred function or pious exercise in honor of the Most Blessed Sacrament;

• or, should they not have sufficient time, they may, at the conclusion of Sunday

Mass, pray the Creed before Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The elderly, the infirm and all those who are not able to leave their home due to some serious condition are also able to obtain the Plenary Indulgence. It would be permitted to those with true sorrow for their sins and purpose of amendment, with prior permission, and if they fulfill the three customary conditions and draw near to a small image of our Lord Jesus Christ, recite prayers with great devotion and humbly offer the pains and sufferings of their own lives for the Mercy of God.

This Decree is applicable only for this occasion notwithstanding any decree to the contrary.

Fortunatus Baldelli

Titular Archbishop of Mevania, Major

Penitentiary

John Francis Girotti, O.F.M. Conv.