Editing Indulgence (section)

{{short description|Remission of sins in the Catholic Church}}
{{Redirect|Indulge|the extended play by Jones|Indulge (EP)|the publication in India|The New Indian Express}}
[[File:Indulgence San Giovanni in Laterano 2006-09-07.jpg|thumb|Inscription on the [[Archbasilica of St. John Lateran]] in [[Rome]]: {{lang|la|Indulgentia plenaria perpetua quotidiana toties quoties pro vivis et defunctis}} (English: "Perpetual everyday plenary indulgence on every occasion for the living and the dead")]]
[[File:Apostolic Blessing and Plenary Indulgence Parchment - 1948 Oct 26, Pope Pius XII to Della Mora Antonietta (DSC 2566).jpg|thumb|Apostolic Benediction and Plenary Indulgence Parchment]]

In the teaching of the [[Catholic Church]], an '''indulgence''' ({{Langx|la|indulgentia}}, from {{lang|la|indulgeo}}, 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins".<ref name="Modern Guide">{{cite book |title=A Modern Guide to Indulgences: Rediscovering This Often Misinterpreted Teaching |first=Edward |last=Peters |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LVlAXL6qJxkC&q=A+Modern+Guide+to+Indulgences%3A+Rediscovering+This+Often+Misinterpreted+Teaching |pages=13|isbn=9781595250247 |date=2008|publisher=Liturgy Training Publications }}</ref> The ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to [[sin]]s whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions…"{{refn| "… through the action of the Church which, as the minister of [[Redemption (theology)|redemption]], dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and all of the [[saint]]s".<ref name="vatican.va">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4G.HTM|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> }}

The recipient of an indulgence must perform an action to receive it. This is most often the saying (once, or many times) of a specified [[prayer]], but may also include a [[pilgrimage]], the visiting of a particular place (such as a [[shrine]], [[Church (building)|church]], or [[cemetery]]), or the performance of specific [[good works]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/With_God/Indulgenced_Prayers|chapter=What is an Indulgence? – Indulgenced Prayers |title=From With God: a book of prayers and reflections (1911) |author=Francis Xavier Lasance}}</ref>

Indulgences were introduced to allow for the remission of the severe penances of the [[early church]] and granted at the intercession of Christians awaiting [[martyrdom]] or at least imprisoned for the faith.<ref name="Oxford:Indulgences">Cross, F. L., ed. ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church''. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article ''indulgences''</ref> The Catholic church teaches that indulgences draw on the [[treasury of merit]] accumulated by [[Jesus]]'s death on the cross and the [[virtue]]s and [[penance]]s of the [[saint]]s.<ref name="World History">Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and company. 1994.</ref> They are granted for specific good works and prayers<ref name="World History" /> in proportion to the devotion with which those good works are performed or prayers recited.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_19670101_indulgentiarum-doctrina.html|title=404 Resource at /content/paul-vi/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-vi_apc_19670101_indulgentiarum-doctrina.html not found|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

By the late [[Middle Ages]], indulgences were used to support charities for the public good, including hospitals.<ref name="D'Andrea2007">{{cite book|author=David Michael D'Andrea|title=Civic Christianity in Renaissance Italy: The Hospital of Treviso, 1400–1530|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B_L1HstiNpUC&pg=PA15|year=2007|publisher=University Rochester Press|isbn=978-1-58046-239-6|pages=15–}}</ref> However, the abuse of indulgences for almsgiving, so that they became a method of moneyraising or ignored the requirements for contrition or charity, had become a serious problem which the church recognized but was unable to restrain effectively.<ref name=Kent>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07783a.htm Kent, William. "Indulgences." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 9 July 2019{{PD-notice}}</ref> Abuses in the practise and teaching on indulgences were, from the beginning of the [[Protestant Reformation]], a target of attacks by [[Martin Luther]] and other Protestant theologians. Eventually, the Catholic [[Counter-Reformation]] curbed the abuses of indulgences, but indulgences continue to play a role in modern Catholic religious life, and were [[dogma]]tically confirmed as part of the Catholic faith by the [[Council of Trent]]. In 1567, [[Pope Pius V]] forbade tying indulgences to any financial act, even to the giving of [[alms]]. Reforms in the 20th century largely abolished the quantification of indulgences, which had been expressed in terms of days or years. These days or years were meant to represent the equivalent of time spent in penance, although it was widely mistaken to mean time spent in [[Purgatory]]. The reforms also greatly reduced the number of indulgences granted for visiting particular churches and other locations.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}