Indulgences?

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To my understanding, after Catholics receive absolution for their sins from Confession, they must still go to Purgatory. Is this true? I’ve also heard that you must gain an “indulgence” to get out go straight to Heaven. Is this true too? What exactly is an indulgence and how do you receive it?
 
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia…

“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.”

Here is a link that explains some common misconceptions of indugences:
catholic.com/library/Myths_About_Indulgences.asp

Although you have been forgiven for a sin, an indulgence gives a full or partial remission of temporal punishment. An indulgence can be plenary or partial. A plenary indulgence remits all the temporal punishment for sin. If you die in a state of grace, having obtained a plenary indulgence, and not sinned since obtaining the indulgence, would be able to go to Heaven without enduring the state of Purgatory. A partial indulgence does not remit all the punishment for sin.

As a caveat, beware of what you read online or offiline regarding indulgences. I’ve read a fairly recent Time magazine article regarding indulgences that was so far off the mark as to be grossly deficient.
 
There is a pretty good thread about indulgences going on here on CAF now:
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=555997

I’m still trying to catch up on that thread, but indulgences (and the concept of purgatory) were a big stumbling block for me, coming from a sola scriptura, saved once and for all certainty of Heaven Baptist background.
 
So when people say, “The Catholic Church charged people for indulgences to pay for the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica,” it was actually the people giving their money away to work out their indulgence. In this case they were donating to the Catholic Church. That was just one of Luther’s excuses to get people on his side of the story.
 
I do not believe in indulgences,Only God can decide whether temporal punishment can be excused.I am catholic but there are so many beliefs and practices of the catholic church that I question.
 
ajpirc said:
So when people say, “The Catholic Church charged people for indulgences to pay for the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica,” it was actually the people giving their money away to work out their indulgence. In this case they were donating to the Catholic Church. That was just one of Luther’s excuses to get people on his side of the story.
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Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but there was a time before some reform that some clrergy sold indulgences. It should have never occurred, but did.
 
franny50 said:
I do not believe in indulgences,Only God can decide whether temporal punishment can be excused.I am catholic but there are so many beliefs and practices of the catholic church that I question.
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Do you believe in the Church’s ability to “bind and loose” on earth? It was explicitly given to the Church by Christ.
 
franny50 said:
I am catholic but there are so many beliefs and practices of the catholic church that I question.
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I know this is off topic, but I’m pretty sure you must believe everything that the Catholic Church teaches to be Catholic.
 
franny50 said:
I do not believe in indulgences,Only God can decide whether temporal punishment can be excused.I am catholic but there are so many beliefs and practices of the catholic church that I question.
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A spiritually dangerous position to be in if you receive Holy Communion. Think about what you are, in effect, saying: “I will take what the Church offers, in the Body and Blood of Christ, but not what else she teaches in His name and with His authority.” Having faith requires that you give assent to the entirety of Church teaching, on simple faith. That you do not understand some of those teachings in no way invalidates them. As with the OP, I can most sincerely suggest that obtain a copy of Catholicism for Dummies. It will not convince you, but will give you the reasons for the majority of the Church’s teachings.

Please do not let your ego restrict your faith - a mistake that I made for years, and still struggle with at times. Get the book. I have my own copy and learn each time I open it.
 
nicolep said:
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but there was a time before some reform that some clrergy sold indulgences. It should have never occurred, but did.
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Many, many sins have been committed by Church members (and also by the hierarchy) over the millennia - but not one of those sins was ever taught by the Church. We are a Church of sinners.
 
ajpirc said:
To my understanding, after Catholics receive absolution for their sins from Confession, they must still go to Purgatory. Is this true? I’ve also heard that you must gain an “indulgence” to get out go straight to Heaven. Is this true too? What exactly is an indulgence and how do you receive it?
Click to expand...
You will benefit greatly from obtaining a copy of Catholicism for Dummies. I have my own copy and frequently refer to it. It will give genuine, authoritative answers for many, if not all of your questions. It is written for us mere mortals, in clear and plain language.
 
There is a passage in the Holy Father’s first volume of Jesus of Nazareth that speaks about the consequences when the Church has, in the past, grasped for earthly power rather than heavenly power. If I remember correctly, he draws a comparison to the crowd choosing Barrabas (who had displayed, apparently, some tendency to active rebellion) over Jesus. It’s something I still have to think about, but well worth reading Benedict’s thoughts on this over mine… and I think it rather covers the sale of indulgences, the Renaissance Popes, etc.
 
Would the penance prescribed by the priest after Confession be an indulgence?
 
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