In the 1908 Catechism of Pius X, we read the
following affirmations of indulgences:
124 Q. What is an Indulgence?
A. An Indulgence is the remission of temporal
punishment due on account of our sins which have been already pardoned as far
as their guilt is concerned—a remission accorded by the Church outside the
sacrament of Penance.
125 Q. From whom has the Church received the
power to grant Indulgences?
A. The Church has received the power to grant
Indulgences from Jesus Christ.
126 Q. In what way does the Church by means
of Indulgences remit this temporal punishment?
A. The church by means of Indulgences remit
this temporal punishment y applying to us the superabundant merits of Jesus
Christ, of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints, which constitute what is known
as the Treasure of the Church.
127 Q. Who has the power to grant
Indulgences?
A. The Pope alone has the power to grant
Indulgences in the whole Church, and the Bishop in his own diocese, according
to the faculty given him by the Pope.
128. Q. How many kinds of Indulgences are
there?
A. Indulgences are of two kinds: plenary and
partial.
129 Q. What is a plenary Indulgence?
A. A plenary Indulgence is that by which the
whole temporal punishment due to our sins is remitted. Hence, if one were to
die after having gained such an Indulgence, he would go straight to Heaven,
being, a he is, perfectly exempt from the pains of Purgatory.
130. What is a partial Indulgence?
A. A partial Indulgence is that by which is
remitted only a part of the temporal punishment due to our sins.
131 Q. Why does the Church grant Indulgences?
A. In granting Indulgences the Church intends
to aid our incapacity to expiate all the temporal punishment in this world, by
enabling us to obtain by means of work of piety and Christian charity that
which is the first ages Christians gained by the rigour of Canonical penances.
132 Q. What is meant by an Indulgence of
forty or a hundred days or of seven years, and the like?
A. By an Indulgence of forty or a hundred
days, or of seven years and the like, is meant the remission of so much of the
temporal punishment as would have been paid by penances of forty or a hundred
days, or seven years, ancient prescribed in the Church.
133 Q. What value should we set on
Indulgences?
A. We should set the greatest value on
Indulgences because by them we satisfy the justice of God and obtain possession
of Heaven sooner and more easily.
134 Q. Which are the conditions necessary to
gain Indulgences?
A. The conditions necessary to gain
Indulgences are: (1) The state of grace (at least at the final completion of the
work), and freedom from those venial faults, the punishment of which we wish to
cancel; (2) The fulfilment of all the works the Church enjoins in order to gain
the Indulgence; (3) The Intention to gain it.
135 Q. Can Indulgences be applied also to the
souls in Purgatory?
A. Yes, Indulgences can be applied also to
the souls in Purgatory, when he who grants them says that they may be so
applied.
136 Q. What is a Jubilee?
A. A Jubilee, which as a rule is granted
every twenty-five years, is a Plenary Indulgence to which are attached many privileges
and special concessions, such as that of being able to obtain absolution from
certain reserved sins and from censures, and the commutation of certain vows.
