By Jenna Marie Cooper
Question Corner
Q: From what I learned in history class, indulgences caused major issues for the church in the 16th century and were one of the main reasons why the Protestant Reformation happened. If indulgences were that much of a problem, then why does the church still have them?
A: I think a traditional Latin maxim applies here: “abusus non tollit usum,” or “abuse does not take away the proper use.” Or, in other words, just because a thing may have been abused in the past or may have the potential to be misused, it does not logically follow that the very same thing can never have its legitimate and good uses.
For some background, indulgences are a special favor granted by the church on the occasion of completing some pious work — like saying a certain prayer or visiting a particular shrine, etc. — which brings about “remission in the sight of God of the temporal punishment due for sins, the guilt of which has already been forgiven” (See Canon 992 of the Code of Canon Law). We are currently celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope, which Pope Francis inaugurated and offers opportunities for receiving indulgences which may be applied for oneself or a deceased person in purgatory after the conditions are met; each diocese usually has certain pilgrimage churches specified.
A plenary indulgence remits all temporal punishment due for already forgiven sins while a partial indulgence remits some of the temporal punishment. Temporal punishment may occur while one is living or in purgatory.
The causes of the Protestant Reformation are complicated, involving various social, political and religious influences.
The then-Catholic monk Martin Luther was scandalized by what he saw as the sale of indulgences, and famously criticized the practice in his “95 theses.” Although Luther may have originally intended to challenge abuses from the point of view of a reform-minded but faithful Catholic, he did depart from the church’s doctrine on various points and, of course, eventually wound up separating altogether from communion with the Catholic Church.
Yet even if indulgences were used badly at previous points of history, when understood properly, they still have value for the church even today. And in fact, indulgences are tied in to many key Catholic doctrines such as the nature of purgatory and the communion of saints.
We believe that purgatory is a state a soul enters after death when that soul is ultimately destined for heaven but is not yet prepared to enter into the full presence of God. The temporal punishment due to sin that happens either during life or in purgatory is not so much punishment as it is a process of purification and the healing of spiritual wounds, which even repented and forgiven sins can leave behind. As the Catechism (1472) explains, “A conversion which proceeds from a fervent charity can attain the complete purification of the sinner in such a way that no punishment would remain.”
Those of us still on earth can actively strive for a deeper sense of conversion and detachment from sin, but the souls in purgatory can no longer help themselves in this way and are dependent on our prayers and penances.
But because many of the saints were holy beyond what was needed for their own salvation, the church sees their “extra” holiness as being “stored up” in what we call the church’s treasury of grace. The good done by Our Lord and the Blessed Mother are obviously included in the treasury of grace in a superabundant way.
Because Jesus gave the church, through St. Peter, the power to “bind and loose” spiritual things in both earth and heaven, (Matthew 16:19) the church is able to apply this “stored up” grace to souls more in need. This distribution of grace is what happens when an indulgence is granted. See paragraphs 1471-1479 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for a fuller explanation.
However, indulgences can only be earned, never sold, and today, the church avoids any association of indulgences with the exchange of money.
Jenna Marie Cooper, who holds a licentiate in canon law, is a consecrated virgin and a canonist whose column appears weekly at OSV News. Send your questions to CatholicQA@osv.com.