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Dear Friends, As I indicated last week, there is a lot of misunderstanding today about the meaning and role of indulgences. I tried to explain what an indulgence was (and was not), the different types of indulgences, and what was necessary to receive them.Some people still believe that the Church no longer grants indulgences because they say that these were done away with by Vatican II. Nothing couldfurther from the truth. During the years before and during Vatican II, it was felt that the norms and lists of indulgences should be revised. There was a sense that there had been too great a proliferation of indulgences to the point that they were no longer held in esteem, i.e. "what is offered in abundance is not greatly appreciated." There were some years that you did not hear much about indulgences because the Church was changing over from the old to the new. Two years after the Council ended, in 1967,Paul VI proclaimed the Apostolic Constitution on the Doctrine of Indulgences. In it he directed that a new handbook or manual of Indulgences be prepared. This was called the "Enchiridion Indulgentiarum" and was issued in July, 1986, and revised on Sept. 17, 2000. It contains all the general indulgences that the Catholic Church offers today. As we have seen, the purpose of an indulgence is to purify our souls and the souls of those in Purgatory. The Church has this authority from Christ Himself. As the Catechism says: "An indulgence is obtained through the Church who,virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saintsobtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishment due to their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, & charity." #1478 Indulgences (3rd Week) This Week's Indulgence Suggestion: Read the Sacred Scriptures "A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful, who with the veneration due the divine word, make a spiritual reading from Sacred Scripture. A plenary indulgence is granted if this reading is continued for at least one half an hour".   Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6