Editing Indulgence (section)

===Dispositions necessary to gain an indulgence===
An indulgence is not the purchase of a pardon which secures the buyer's salvation or releases the soul of another from purgatory. Sin is only pardoned (i.e., its effects entirely obliterated) when complete reparation in the form of sacramental confession is made and prescribed conditions are followed. After a firm amendment is made internally not to sin again, and the serious execution of one's assigned penance, the release of one from penalty in the spiritual sense consequentially follows.<ref name=Kent/>

An indulgence may be plenary (remits all temporal punishment required to cleanse the soul from attachment to anything but God) or partial (remits only part of the temporal punishment, i.e. cleansing, due to sin).<ref name="vatican.va"/><ref name="auto"/>

To gain a plenary indulgence, upon performing the charitable work or praying the aspiration or prayer for which the indulgence is granted, one must fulfill the prescribed conditions of:
# A complete and whole-hearted detachment from all sin of any kind, even venial sin
# Making a valid [[Sacrament of Penance (Catholic Church)|sacramental confession]] 
# Receiving [[Eucharist|Holy Communion]] in the state of grace
# Praying for the [[Holy actions#Intentions|intentions of the Pope]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/tribunals/apost_penit/documents/rc_trib_appen_doc_20020826_enchiridion-indulgentiarum_lt.html|title=Enchiridion Indulgentiarum quarto editur|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

The minimum condition for gaining a partial indulgence is to be contrite in heart; on this condition, a Catholic who performs the work or recites the prayer in question is granted, through the church, remission of temporal punishment equal to that obtained by the person's own action.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Since those who have died in the state of grace (with all mortal sins forgiven) are members of the communion of saints, the living (members of the [[Churches Militant, Penitent, and Triumphant|Church Militant]]) can assist those whose purification from their sins was not yet completed at the time of death through prayer but also by obtaining indulgences in their behalf.<ref name="vatican.va"/> Since the church has no jurisdiction over the dead, indulgences can be gained for them only {{lang|la|per modum suffragii}}, i.e. by an act of [[Intercession of saints|intercession]].<ref name="Oxford:Indulgences"/> This is sometimes termed 'impetration', which [[Thomas Aquinas|Aquinas]] explains "...is not founded on God's justice, but on His goodness".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lci-goroka.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/saint-alphonsus-liguori-prayer-the-great-means-of-salvation-and-of-perfection.pdf |title=Prayer: The Great Means of Salvation and of Perfection |last=Ligouri |first=Alphonsus |author-link=Alphonsus Liguori |date=1886 |website=Saint Patrick Basilica {{!}} The Basilica of Mercy in the Heart of Ottawa |access-date=2 June 2024 |quote= [...] because impetration is not founded on God's justice, but on His goodness. "Merit," he says, "depends on justice; impetration, on grace." [2. 2. q. 83,a. 16]|page=24}}</ref>

On 28 August 1903, Pope Pius X allowed cardinals in their titular churches and dioceses to grant 200 days of indulgence; archbishops, 100; bishops, 50.<ref>[[wikisource:Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Indulgences|Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Indulgences, by William Henry Kent]]</ref>