Indulgence (Roman Catholicism)
In the Roman Catholic Church , the indulgence (the Latin "grant") is the total or partial remission before God of the temporal punishment incurred due to sin already forgiven.
The Code of Canon Law devotes indulgences to Chapter IV of Title IV, on the sacrament of penance. The barrel 992 defines an indulgence as "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. " This definition is taken from the encyclical Indulgentiarum doctrina of Paul VI and repeated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraph 1471 followed by an explanation.
All the indulgences is presented in the Enchiridion of Indulgences issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary. While all may appear there.
We can define the concept by:
- its effect remission of temporal punishment still unmet for sins remitted.
- shape: an act of piety, charity, piety, etc.. which is now substituted with extreme penitential rigors required in the early days of the church.
- its nature: the Church is considering managing somehow acquired the merits of the filing by the saints and dispenser of the satisfaction of Christ.
Summary |
According to the doctrine Catholic , the sin is erased by the sacrament of penance ( confession ). But this sacrament does not remove the temporal punishment due to sin, which usually results in a time of purgatory if not first served on earth through acts of faith and charity (Acts of Service). This temporal punishment may be mitigated or even erased by the indulgence. An indulgence is said to be partial or plenary according as it removes or nullifies the temporal punishment due for sin.
Regarding partial indulgences, they are traditionally counted in days, months or years. This does not claim to correspond to a direct delivery (days, month, year) equivalent of purgatory. She indicated that the remission would be an equivalent period of penance performed under the law of the first canons of the Church. This period also allowed to channel popular devotions, by more or less denoted their approval it from the sacred authority. And Pius IX granted he indulgences from 1847 to prayers to Our Lady of La Salette , to mark his behalf by his desire for formal recognition of the apparition. It was in 1967 , following the Second Vatican Council, as Paul VI removed the reference to a number of days or of years.
The partial indulgences may be granted by the authority of bishops, plenary indulgences is reserved to the fact the Apostolic Penitentiary.
History
Origin of practice
His practice, inherited from Roman law, dating back to the third century. The question then return to the bosom of the church Christians who apostatized during the persecutions. In the twelfth century , it receives a legal definition in the decretal Papal distinction is clearly drawn between absolution, reserved for God, and forgiveness, allowing reconciliation with the Church. An indulgence is obtained in return for an act of piety (pilgrimage, prayer, mortification) for such purpose in a spirit of repentance - it is for those who are vere penitentibus and confession, according to the formula in use from twelfth century.
Theoretically, there is no proportion between the fault and this act of piety: the indulgence is deemed to be the effect of the communion of saints. In practice, it is fine otherwise, partly under the influence of Germanic peoples, whose law is in effect a schedule of repairs, and tarifient each fault. Indulgences are modeled on pnitenciels then, these books came from Ireland to determine for each type of fault so many days of mortification. Shorter, forgiveness tends to replace the physical penance especially for the dying.
From this time, we see first abuse, primarily Simony : the faithful haggle with the priest an act of charity, often hard currency. The councils of the tenth and eleventh century therefore strive to limit the share of appreciation of the priest by setting general scales. The indulgence at this time becomes a weapon Pontifical: A plenary indulgence is in the middle of XI century and is then used to promote the crusade in Spain, that is to say the Reconquista. During the Middle Ages, the "price" of indulgence keeps falling: it takes less effort to obtain an indulgence increasingly broad. Thus, it comes to granting a plenary indulgence for the observation of a sworn peace, which is to reward the absence of sin. One currency also exemptions to various obligations, the amounts so collected funding of religious buildings or allowing certain prelates set a brisk pace. And the Tower of butter from the Notre-Dame de Rouen owes its nickname to the sale of waivers granted to consume fat during Lent.
Criticisms of the Reformation and the Enlightenment
Indulgences are denounced first by John Wyclif (1320-1384) and Jan Hus (1369-1415), who question the abuse. Among these include the indulgence granted in 1506 for anyone who would help build the new St. Peter's Basilica. It is also the time of the scandal to the Dominican Johann Tetzel , loaded 1516 - 1517 of selling indulgences in the name of Albert of Brandenburg , Archbishop of Mainz , interested in the sale by a commission of 50% promised by the Curia. He then assigns the slogan: "das Geld im Kasten Sobald klingt Die Seel'aus Fegfeuer springt dem" ("as soon as the money tinkles in the box, the soul flies out of purgatory). The practice of indulgences is increasingly seen as a form of corruption during the sixteenth century.
Martin Luther's attack, meanwhile, the very principle of practice in his 95 theses in Wittenberg: according to him, only God can justify sinners. He denounced both indulgences for the souls in Purgatory (theses 8-29) and those in favor of the living (theses 30-68). In the first case, the dead are dead, they are no longer required by canonical decrees - ultimately it is the purgatory itself is challenged. In this regard, Luther also stands against the indulgences of haggling and accuses the Church to take advantage of the fear of hell: "They preach man who say that as soon tolled threw money in the fund , once the soul will fly After the Reformation
The Catholic Church following the Reformation will curb the worst abuses. Thus, Leo X , in his condemnation of Luther, said the distinction between remission of temporal punishment and forgiveness of sin itself. Nevertheless, the practice continues to this day, framed first by the Congregation of Indulgences, created by Clement VIII (1592-1605) and incorporated into the Roman Curia by Clement IX in 1669 - its powers are transferred in 1908 to St. -Office and then in 1917 the Apostolic Penitentiary , which has always supported.
Until Vatican II , the parishioners have again, in the chapter on prayer, a section on indulgences. Thus, the faithful parishioners publishes a list of invocations indulgenced: invocations "My Jesus, mercy! "Or" Heart of Jesus dying, be my love "corresponds to 100 days of penance, while" St. Joseph, patron of a happy death, pray for us "is equivalent to 300 days The indulgence today The doctrine of indulgences has been recalled by the Second Vatican Council and the Apostolic Constitution Indulgentiarum doctrina de Paul VI , incorporated in the Code of Canon Law of 1983. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church of 1992 ( 1471-1479), the Church affirms its right to grant indulgences, "under the power of binding and loosing which was granted by Christ Jesus" ( 1478). It states that the indulgence only release the "temporal punishment" of sin and not the "eternal punishment" - that is to say, the deprivation of "life everlasting", communion with God. Again, she recalled that the indulgence granted to the sinner is not by virtue of his penance alone, but the communion of saints. If the practice is less common than in the past, it remains clear: thus, the Catechism is always recommended, with the alms and works of penance, the use of indulgences for the dead ( 1032). The main indulgence is granted on the occasion of the jubilee , it is "one of the components," according to John Paul II ( bubble indiction Incarnationis Mysterium 9.1). It was during the Jubilee year 2000 that the Apostolic Penitentiary has seen fit to recall the conditions of acquisition of indulgence. In all cases - partial or plenary indulgence - the faithful must be in a "state of grace." For a plenary indulgence, which is getting limited to once a day, it must: If these actions are only partially met, or that the faithful do not have the required provisions of the heart, the indulgence is only partial. It is also recalled that indulgence may be applied to oneself or to "souls in Purgatory" (by way of suffrage), and not to other living people. In 1999 , the Vatican signed with the Lutheran World Federation of Lutheran-Catholic agreement on justification by faith. Both faiths were demonstrating their agreement on this principle that only faith saves. During the Jubilee Year 2000 , the Catholic Church has issued indulgences, despite protests Protestant . Catholic doctrine of indulgences therefore remains a sticking point with other Christian denominations. For the Catholic Church, the practice of indulgences for the remission of temporal punishment and therefore does not question the doctrine of justification. Many devotions (related to a saint, to Christ, the Sacred Heart, etc..) Also, by order of the popes, the effect of granting pardons or more after completion of a daily action, such as the recitation of a prayer. Lutheran-Catholic agreement on justification by faith
Some acts which are attached a plenary indulgence
For yourself or the deceased (by vote)
Only for the dead
See also
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