Basics of Indulgences

It is "de fide" (of faith), and therefore necessary for all Catholics to believe...

(1) that the Church has received from Christ the power to grant indulgences

(2) that the use of indulgences is salutary for the faithful.
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This fact was taken from the article in the Catholic Encyclopedia (A.D. 1910). Unfortunately, even among Catholics it is sometimes questioned as to whether it is officially taught by the Church. For the support of those who are defending this Catholic Doctrine, and to strengthen those who find themselves weak on it, some excerpts from the article are given below showing that such a doctrine is of Faith and clearly taught by the Magisterium of the Church. Listed first are ALL the sub-titles within the article, but only a few essential excerpts will be given here as the entire article is too lengthy for this dispatch. The entire article is highly recommended so as to avoid any misunderstanding.
(You will find the complete article on INDULGENCE in the "Catholic Encyclopedia" on the New Advent web page at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07783a.htm)

INDULGENCE: (derivation of word)

1) What an Indulgence is not
2) What an Indulgence is
3) Various kinds of Indulgences
4) Who can grant Indulgences
5) Dispositions Necessary to gain Indulgences
6) Authoritative Teaching of the Church
7) Basis of the Doctrine
8) The Power to Grant Indulgences
9) Abuses
10) Salutary Effects of Indulgences

1) To facilitate explanation, it may be well to state what an indulgence is not. It is not a permission to commit sin, nor a pardon of future sin; neither could be granted by any power. It is not the forgiveness of the guilt of sin; it supposes that the sin has already been forgiven. It is not an exemption from any law of duty, and much less from the obligation consequent on certain kinds of sin, e.g., restitution; on the contrary, it means a more complete payment of the debt which the sinner owes to God. It does not confer immunity from temptation or remove the possibility of subsequent lapses into sin. Least of all is an indulgence the purchase of a pardon which secures the buyer's salvation...

2) An indulgence is the extra-sacramental remission of the temporal punishment due, in God's justice, to sin that has been forgiven, which remission is granted by the Church in the exercise of the power of the keys, through the application of the superabundant merits of Christ and of the saints, and for some just and reasonable motive...

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6) AUTHORITATIVE TEACHING OF THE CHURCH.

The Council of Constance condemned among the errors of Wyclif the proposition: "It is foolish to believe in the indulgences granted by the pope and the bishops" (Sess. VIII, 4 May, 1415; see Denzinger-Bannwart, "Enchiridion", 622). In the Bull "Exsurge Domine", 15 June, 1520, Leo X condemned Luther's assertions that "Indulgences are pious frauds of the faithful"; and that "Indulgences do not avail those who really gain them for the remission of the penalty due to actual sin in the sight of God's justice" (Enchiridion, 758, 759). The Council of Trent (Sess. XXV, 3-4, Dec., 1563) declared: "Since the power of granting indulgences has been given to the Church by Christ, and since the Church from the earliest times has made use of this Divinely given power, the holy synod teaches and ordains that the use of indulgences, as most salutary to Christians and as approved by the authority of the councils, shall be retained in the Church; and it further pronounces anathema against those who either declare that indulgences are useless or deny that the Church has the power to grant them" (Enchiridion 989). It is therefore of faith (1) that the Church has received from Christ the power to grant indulgences, and (2) that the use of indulgences is salutary for the faithful.