BICENTENNIAL REFLECTION
Plenary Indulgences granted during the 200th Year of the Church in Philadelphia

We are all accustomed to the giving of gifts on the occasion of birthdays and anniversaries. It adds to the joy of the occasion, it allows each person a participation in the event and it provides a lasting souvenir. On Easter Sunday, we began a great event here in our local Church of Philadelphia: the celebration of our 200th birthday as a Diocese! You have already read of the celebrations being held during this Bicentennial Year and some of you have participated in the first of them: our Bicentennial Pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. All of these events are celebrations of our 200th birthday. Since it is you, Christ’s faithful of this local Church, who are celebrating this occasion, I would like to be sure that you all receive a gift when you participate in any of these birthday events. Therefore, I have asked the Apostolic Penitentiary, which is the Tribunal of the Church which deals in a special way with her spiritual treasury, to grant to our faithful in the Archdiocese the gift of a plenary indulgence when they participate in designated events, pilgrimages or pious visits during our year-long celebration.

What is an Indulgence?
When we give a gift, we sometimes find ourselves explaining the gift to the recipient as they open the package! As the Church gives the faithful of this Archdiocese this Bicentennial gift of a Plenary Indulgence, we would probably do well to explain it. In a helpful summary of the Church’s teaching on indulgences called Indulgences and our Spiritual Life, published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, we read: “Indulgences are a part of the Church’s teaching on the forgiveness of sins. Through the Sacrament of Baptism, we receive forgiveness for our sins, and all punishment is remitted. Through the Sacrament of Penance, sins are also forgiven, and the eternal penalty that is due to sin—namely, damnation, the eternal loss of the presence of God—is taken away. However, consequences still remain that the sinner must bear. This is what is traditionally called the temporal punishment for sin” (“Indulgences and our Spiritual Life,” USCCB).

How can we understand this concept of temporal punishment in a fairly easy way?
If you have ever had an operation or sustained a serious wound, you probably have a scar. Your operation may have corrected your problem completely, even if it was life-threatening then or in the future and your wound may have healed, but the scar remains. The scars are a testimony to the fact that you were once weakened by sickness and wounded. Even though you have been restored to health, your scar is your reminder, here and now, of what you endured. The physician was able to restore you to health and the scar seems a small price to pay!

Our Lord Jesus Christ is sometimes spoken of as the Divine Physician. This is an appropriate term because He has healed us from sin. Saint Peter writes in the first of his letters: “He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus did this once and for all when He died on the Cross; but in order to have a personal and living relationship with each of us, He offers to each individual the mercy that He poured forth from the Cross. We receive His forgiveness here in time through His eternal life-giving act of salvation and in this way we are saved from eternal death.

However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that sin has a double consequence. In the Sacrament of Penance the one consequence, the eternal punishment due to sin, which is the eternal loss of the presence of God, is remitted. The other consequence of sin is temporal, disrupting our relationship with God, with the Church and with others. “Those who have received forgiveness for their sins may still have an obligation to undergo a process of purification to restore these disrupted relationships. The necessary and painful process that brings this reconciliation and purification can take place in this life or in Purgatory, because whatever part of the process remains unfinished at death must be completed in Purgatory” (“Indulgences and our Spiritual Life”).

At this point, you can see the reason for using the image of a scar after a surgical procedure or the healing of a wound. The healing of sin takes place through the mercy of Jesus, poured out through His Paschal Mystery. This mercy provides a healing from eternal punishment, but the scar or remaining temporal effect must be removed in another way. This removal takes place in this life through purification involving suffering endured in union with the Cross of Jesus. It takes place in Purgatory if there has not been sufficient purification in this life. One of the ways this purification is obtained in this life is through indulgences received from the treasury of the Church.

What is the treasury if the Church?
We are certainly not speaking here of any material goods but rather the accumulated merits of our Lord, our Lady and the Saints. Pope John Paul II explained this as “the expression of the Church’s full confidence of being heard by the Father when—in view of Christ’s merits and, by his gift, those of Our Lady and the saints—she asks him to mitigate or cancel the painful aspect of punishment by fostering its medicinal aspect through other channels of grace” (General Audience, September 29, 1999). The Church, as the Spouse of Christ, is able to dispense the riches of this treasury and thereby proclaim our union with all the members of the Church: those pilgrim members here on earth, those suffering and in need of purification in Purgatory and the triumphant in Heaven who continue to intercede for us.

The Church prays with confidence that the temporal punishment of an individual may be reduced partially (partial indulgence) or completely (plenary indulgence). Again, proclaiming the intimate union of the communion of saints within the Church, these indulgences may be obtained for ourselves or for the souls in Purgatory. This is a beautiful proclamation of the truth that the Christian is never alone! We are always united as members of Christ’s Church. This is why so many of you, with great faith and devotion, continue to pray for all those you love, both living and dead, knowing that you are united with them not by mere sentiment but through the reality of Christ’s Paschal Mystery, which brings us even in this life a share in the life to come.

How do I gain an indulgence during this Bicentennial Year?
In connection with the granting of an indulgence, you will sometimes see the expression: “under the usual conditions.” What are these conditions? In order to receive the gift the Church offers us, that special share in the treasury of the merits of our Lord, His Mother and His Saints, the Church requires that we go to Confession, receive Holy Communion and pray for the intentions of the Holy Father, either on the day of an event to which the indulgence is attached or within several days before or after the event. In his recent Post Synodal Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI speaks of receiving indulgences in this context: “Since the conditions for gaining an indulgence include going to confession and receiving sacramental Communion, this practice can effectively sustain the faithful on their journey of conversion and in rediscovering the centrality of the Eucharist in the Christian life” (no. 21).

A plenary indulgence, that is, the remission of all the temporal punishment due to our sins which have already been sacramentally forgiven, is granted to the faithful of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia who are properly disposed and who fulfill the conditions mentioned above when they take part in any of the following Bicentennial celebrations. This indulgence may also be applied to the souls in Purgatory:

Pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on April 28, 2007.

Special Youth Event and Mass at Saint Charles Seminary on September 29, 2007.

Bicentennial celebrations taking place in our Cathedral Basilica or some sacred place within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia presided over by the Cardinal Archbishop or his delegate.

A pilgrimage to the Cathedral Basilica, Shrine of Saint John Neumann or Shrine of Saint Katharine Drexel, which includes a solemn communal celebration.

Closing Mass of the Bicentennial Year to be held at Villanova Pavilion on April 13, 2008.

Individuals or groups who fulfill the usual conditions and make a visit to one of the above-mentioned Shrines or the Cathedral Basilica and spend some time in prayer may also receive the plenary indulgence. The sick and elderly, who cannot leave their homes for a legitimate reason may also receive the plenary indulgence if they have the intention of fulfilling the usual conditions when they are able, uniting themselves prayerfully with those taking part in the events or pilgrimages associated with the Bicentennial Year. They must also devoutly recite the Our Father, Apostles’ Creed and a Marian prayer before an image of our Lord or the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And so, dear faithful of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, this is the Church’s gift to us during our Bicentennial! I hope that you receive it with great joy, devotion and understanding as we celebrate our 200th Birthday as the Church of Philadelphia.
May 24, 2007