VATICAN: Participants in Charity Work for Elderly to Obtain Plenary Indulgence: Vatican Declares
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
A head of the second World Day for grandparents and the elderly to be marked in July, Vatican officials have stated that the Catholic faithful who will be involved in charity work including vising an elderly person, will have the opportunity to obtain plenary indulgence.
In a decree published Monday, May 30, by the Apostolic Penitentiary a Vatican tribunal of mercy, responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Catholic Church, the officials note that the tribunal “graciously grants from the heavenly treasures of the Church the Plenary Indulgence under the usual conditions: Sacramental of Confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer to grandparents, the elderly and all the faithful who, motivated by a true spirit of penance and charity, will participate on 24 July 2022, on the occasion of the Second World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly.”
According to the Apostolic Penitentiary Plenary Indulgence has been offered “in order to increase the devotion of the faithful and to procure the salvation of souls.”
The tribunal of Mercy highlights further in their Monday decree that on the same day for the grandparents and the elderly that the Pontiff instituted to be marked on the fourth Sunday of July, Plenary Indulgence will also be granted “to the faithful who devote adequate time to visit, in presence or virtually, through the media, their elderly brothers and sisters in need or in difficulty (including) the sick, the abandoned and the disabled.”
Additionally, reads the decree, “The Plenary Indulgence may also be granted, provided that they (the faithful) remove themselves from any sin and with the intention of fulfilling the three usual conditions (Sacramental of Confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer), as soon as possible.
The Vatican officials request the sick elderly and those unable to join in the prayer services to “unite spiritually with the sacred services of World Youth Day, offering to the Merciful God their prayers, and the pains and sufferings of their lives, especially while the words of the Supreme Pontiff and the various celebrations are broadcast through the media.”
The Apostolic Penitentiary further appeals to priests equipped with the appropriate faculties to hear confessions, “to make themselves available with a ready and generous spirit for the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance…in order that this opportunity to attain divine grace through the power of the Keys of the Church may be more easily realized through pastoral charity.”
