By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY — To mark the 40th anniversary of the close of the
Second Vatican Council, Catholics may receive a plenary indulgence for
taking part in any public or private devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary
on Dec. 8.
Pope Benedict XVI has authorized the special indulgences to encourage
Catholics to carry out the council’s teachings on peace, justice
and charity, according to U.S. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, head of the
Apostolic Penitentiary, which is a Vatican court that deals with indulgences
and matters of conscience.
The Pope expressed his hope that all the Church will be united with him
and their “common mother,” Mary, on Dec. 8, so that Catholics
“may be strengthened in their faith, follow Christ with greater
dedication, and love their brothers and sisters with more ardent charity,”
Cardinal Stafford said.
Dec. 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. The Vatican announced the indulgences and outlined the requirements
for receiving them on Nov. 29.
An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment due for sins.
A plenary indulgence is the remission of all punishment.
Cardinal Stafford said that to obtain the special indulgences on Dec.
8, Catholics must fulfill the normal requirements set by the Church for
all plenary indulgences: Within a reasonably short period of time, persons
seeking the indulgence go to confession, receive the Eucharist, and pray
for the intentions of the Pope, all in a spirit of total detachment from
an attraction to sin.
Catholics must also participate in a formal prayer service in honor of
Mary, “or at least, openly demonstrate their devotion to Mary”
by praying before an image of the Immaculate Conception on display for
public veneration. The faithful should also recite the Lord’s Prayer,
the Apostles’ Creed and a prayer to Mary.
Cardinal Stafford said the special indulgence was being offered to mark
the 40th anniversary of the formal close of the Second Vatican Council
by Pope Paul VI, who proclaimed Mary “the mother of the Church”
and the “spiritual mother of us all.”
Catholics who cannot visit a Marian shrine or pray before a communal image
of Mary because of illness or another serious reason may still earn the
indulgence “in their own home or wherever they are” on Dec.
8, the Cardinal said.