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Catholics can indulge once again

15 Feb 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In Moses' time, we learn in this Sunday's reading from the Book of Leviticus, lepers were instructed to cry out, "Unclean, unclean!" Catholics who may feel "unclean of spirit" are being offered a different option these days: plenary indulgences, which are reportedly making a comeback in an increasing number of dioceses worldwide after having fallen out of favor decades ago. Like the Latin Mass and meatless Fridays, the indulgence was one of the traditions that faded from mainstream Catholic practice in the 1960s and 1970s in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Its revival is seen in some quarters as part of a conservative resurgence that has brought some quiet changes and some highly controversial ones, such as Pope Benedict XVI's recent decision to lift the excommunications of four schismatic bishops who challenged the council's reforms. The return of indulgences began with Pope John Paul II, who authorized bishops to offer them in 2000 as part of the celebration of the church's third millennium. But the offers have increased markedly under his successor Benedict XVI, who has made plenary indulgences part of church celebrations nine times in the past three years. According to the websites of a number of U.S. dioceses, Catholics can receive an indulgence by fulfilling the basic requirements of going to confession, receiving Holy Communion, saying a prayer for the pope, and achieving "complete detachment from any inclination to sin." Praying for others and performing acts of charity are also part of gaining an indulgence. But the return of this practice has raised questions, especially for Lutherans, whose churches were born in part from controversy over indulgences. "It has been something of a mystery to us as to why now," said Reverend Michael Root, dean of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. The renewal of indulgences, he said, has "not advanced" the dialogue. "Our main problem has always been the question of quantifying God's blessing," Root said. "Confessions have been down for years and the church is very worried about it," said Father Tom Reese, S.J., former editor of the Jesuit weekly America. In a secularized culture of pop psychology and self-help, Reese said, "the church wants the idea of 'personal sin' back in the equation. Indulgences are a way of reminding people of the importance of penance. "The good news is we're not selling them anymore," he added. Source: An article by Paul Vitello for the New York Times

Penance confession benedict xvi john paul ii plenary indulgences indulgences second vatican council michael root thomas reese

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Catholics can indulge once again

15 Feb 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In Moses' time, we learn in this Sunday's reading from the Book of Leviticus, lepers were instructed to cry out, "Unclean, unclean!" Catholics who may feel "unclean of spirit" are being offered a different option these days: plenary indulgences, which are reportedly making a comeback in an increasing number of dioceses worldwide after having fallen out of favor decades ago. Like the Latin Mass and meatless Fridays, the indulgence was one of the traditions that faded from mainstream Catholic practice in the 1960s and 1970s in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Its revival is seen in some quarters as part of a conservative resurgence that has brought some quiet changes and some highly controversial ones, such as Pope Benedict XVI's recent decision to lift the excommunications of four schismatic bishops who challenged the council's reforms. The return of indulgences began with Pope John Paul II, who authorized bishops to offer them in 2000 as part of the celebration of the church's third millennium. But the offers have increased markedly under his successor Benedict XVI, who has made plenary indulgences part of church celebrations nine times in the past three years. According to the websites of a number of U.S. dioceses, Catholics can receive an indulgence by fulfilling the basic requirements of going to confession, receiving Holy Communion, saying a prayer for the pope, and achieving "complete detachment from any inclination to sin." Praying for others and performing acts of charity are also part of gaining an indulgence. But the return of this practice has raised questions, especially for Lutherans, whose churches were born in part from controversy over indulgences. "It has been something of a mystery to us as to why now," said Reverend Michael Root, dean of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. The renewal of indulgences, he said, has "not advanced" the dialogue. "Our main problem has always been the question of quantifying God's blessing," Root said. "Confessions have been down for years and the church is very worried about it," said Father Tom Reese, S.J., former editor of the Jesuit weekly America. In a secularized culture of pop psychology and self-help, Reese said, "the church wants the idea of 'personal sin' back in the equation. Indulgences are a way of reminding people of the importance of penance. "The good news is we're not selling them anymore," he added. Source: An article by Paul Vitello for the New York Times

Penance confession benedict xvi john paul ii plenary indulgences indulgences second vatican council michael root thomas reese

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A world of forgiveness at World Youth Day

21 Aug 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever,” the psalmist gratefully intones this Sunday. The Vatican wants young pilgrims attending World Youth Day in Spain this week to know God’s forgiving power and has granted priests the right to forgive the sin of abortion when hearing the confessions of hundreds of thousands of young people attending the gathering. "This [concession] is to make it easier for the faithful who attend the Word Youth Day celebrations to obtain the fruits of divine grace," the Madrid archdiocese said in a statement on its website. Under church law the termination of pregnancy is punishable by excommunication. “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven," Jesus tells Saint Peter this Sunday in a passage often linked to the church’s sacrament of Reconciliation. World Youth Day pilgrims will attend confession in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday in a central Madrid park. Two hundred white portable confessional cabins have been erected in Madrid's Retiro Park where hundreds of priests will hear confessions in different languages from pilgrims who have traveled to Spain from around the world. The Vatican announced last week that it had authorized a plenary, or full, indulgence to all the young people attending the WYD celebrations. Pope Benedict will arrive in Spain's capital on Thursday for a four-day visit culminating in a Mass on Sunday in the Cuatro Vientos aerodrome which over 2,000,000 people are expected to attend. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, an open secularist, has clashed with the church over abortion and has changed the law during his tenure to make it easier for women seeking to terminate unwanted pregnancies. In addition, segments of Spanish society, including some Spanish clergy and religious, are protesting the expenses associated with the event, which comes at a time of national austerity. Source: An article by Judy MacInnes and Tom Heneghan for Reuters

confession benedict xvi indulgences abortion world youth day jose luis rodriguez zapatero madrid

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Young Catholics indulged online for World Youth Day

21 Jul 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Just as Mary and Martha respond to the presence of Jesus in different ways in this Sunday’s gospel, not every young Catholic in the world will have the opportunity to be physically present with Pope Francis at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro July 23-28. A Vatican court has ruled, however, that “the faithful who are legitimately impeded [from attending events in person] can obtain the plenary indulgence if . . . they follow the same rites and pious exercises . . . by the new means of social communication.”Church leaders have cautioned, though, that “you can't obtain indulgences"—remission of temporal sins for which a person must make reparation—"like getting a coffee from a vending machine,” as Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, head of the pontifical council for social communication, put it in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. “It won't be sufficient to attend the Mass in Rio online, follow the pope on your iPad, or visit Pope2You.net. These are only tools that are available to believers,” Celli noted. “What really matters is that the pope's tweets from Brazil, or the photos of World Youth Day that will be posted on Pinterest, should bear authentic spiritual fruit in the hearts of each one of us.”The newspaper, which is collaborating with the Pope2You.net website, also consulted Father Paolo Padrini, a respected scholar of digital communications dubbed the “iPriest,” on the significance of the online offer of a plenary indulgence. “Imagine your computer is a well-laden table where you can find tweets from Pope Francis, videos on YouTube, clips on Corriere.it, and Facebook postings from your friend in Brazil,” Padrini said. “That is the dinner that will nourish your spirit. Sharing, acting in unison, despite the obstacle of distance. But it will still be real participation and that is why you will obtain the indulgence. Above all because your click will have come from the heart." Homily hint: International World Youth Day only comes around once every two years, and this month’s event in Rio de Janeiro will be the first for Pope Francis. Though most of us will be far from the action, we can stay close in spirit through prayer and by taking advantage of social media sites. Publish information in your bulletin, community website, email lists, wherever and however you can get the word out. Go to the VISION VocationNetwork website for resources and information. The New Evangelization begins at home! Source: An article by Carol J. Williams for the Los Angeles Times

Pope Francis plenary indulgences social media world youth day paolo padrini claudio maria celli

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