KENYA: During Ignatian Jubilee Year, Christians to Obtain Plenary Indulgence, Jesuits Provincial Superior Explains

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

As the order of the Society of Jesus marks the 500th anniversary of the conversion of their founder Saint Ignatius of Loyola and the 400th anniversary of his canonization, Christian faithful have been granted plenary indulgence during the entire year of the jubilee celebration May 20, 2021 – July 31, 2022, the Jesuits Provincial of Eastern Africa province has shared with AMECEA online.

“The Church around the globe is gifted with so many Ignatian families: priestly, Religious, lay fraternities, and devotions of both adults and youth movements who follow the spirituality of St Ignatius of Loyola. It is in this light that the Superior General of the Society of Jesus Fr Arturo Sosa asked the Holy Father Pope Francis to grant the Church this favour,” Fr. Kizito Kiyimba has narrated.

He adds, “The indulgences, while coming at the request of the Jesuits, are not a prerogative of the Jesuits or Ignatian families but an opportunity for the entire Church to move with more commitment towards our conversion.”

Narrating expectations from Christians to obtain the granted indulgences Fr. Kiyimba said, “Any Christian who freely wishes to receive the indulgence should fulfil the usual conditions for obtaining a plenary indulgence, namely going for the Sacrament of Reconciliation; receiving the Eucharist; and praying for the intentions of the Pope as well as making a pilgrimage to the churches or oratories of the Society of Jesus during the Ignatian Year.”

In a decree issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary to all Major Superiors of Jesuits on the Plenary Indulgence it explains, “It is customary for the Church to offer this indulgence during the Holy Years, usually celebrated every 25 years.”

“She does so today in this time of great symbolic importance, which is the Ignatian Jubilee Year, in order to help the faithful to move forward in their journey of conversion,” an excerpt of the decree reads and continues, “During these privileged months, the faithful are invited to take an extra step, which shows their desire to deepen their pilgrimage. This can be one more step on the path to holiness to which we are all invited.”

Considering the current Covid-19 pandemic situation across the globe that may hinder some willing Christians to make a pilgrimage to the churches or oratories of the Jesuits during this Ignatian jubilee year Fr. Kiyimba underscored during the Thursday, July 8 interview, “The decree makes provision for the elderly, the sick, the dying and those legitimately unable to leave the house, who sincerely detach themselves from any inclination to sin, in the same spirit in which St Ignatius detested every sin, and spiritually join in the celebrations and pray by the pain of their own disadvantaged situation, will have God’s mercy granted.”

Besides, those “who recite an act of piety to St. Ignatius of Loyola under his title of Comfort of the Sick and Patron of a happy death, provided they offer their discomfort to God and fulfill the conditions for the indulgence “as soon as possible” receive the indulgences.

“The current Covid-19 pandemic, whenever it spikes, renders most of us helpless as the people specifically described. Those affected should make the necessary effort, remaining within the prescribed Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs),” the former Vice Chancellor of Arrupe Jesuit University in Harare, Zimbabwe disclosed and explained further, “The faithful should contact any Jesuit communities, offices, apostolic works or websites to find out the nearest churches and oratories of the Society of Jesus.”

Fr. Kiyimba reminds the faithful that the plenary indulgence is a “full remission of all temporal punishment (time spent in purgatory) committed before God due to sin in one’s entire lifetime up to that point.

Additionally, he said, “plenary indulgences can also be requested of Our Lord for the deceased. There is, thus, a social dimension to indulgences.”

The Ignatian jubilee year also allows the Jesuits to reflect back to the origins of Ignatian experiences and gives them an opportunity to make known their spiritual roots.