Indulgences are now granted in the Komish Church on a very ample scale, especially to all contributors to the erection of churches, and to the funds of the Projni- gunda and other missionary societies, etc. In fact, al- most any act of piety (so-called) entitles one to an in- dulgence : as, for instance, the worship of relics ; the vis- iting of churches or special altars; participation in di- vine worship on great festivals, such as inauguration of churches, and, especially, taking part in pilgrimages. Indulgences which apply either to the whole Church are called general (indnh/. i/iik r<(lis), while those that arc confined to particular localitits, as a bishopric, etc., are called particular (indiihj. partirularis). The most general indulgence is that of the Koman Catholic year of Jubilee (q. v.). The general indulgence is always made out by. the pope himself, while the particxdar in- dulgences, either iilenarice or minus pkiue, are often among the privileges of divers localities, either for spe- cial occasions and various lengths of time, or occasion- ally forever. The papal indulgence is to be proclaimed by the bishop and two canons of the diocese receiving it. "Indulgences are divided mio plenary and non-ple- nary, or partial, temporary, indefinite, local, perjyeiual, real, and personal. 1. Ajilenary indidgence is that by which is obtained a remission of all the temporal pun- ishment due to sin, either in this life or in the next. 2. A non-plenary or jwrtial indulgence is that which re- mits only a part of the temporal punishment due to sin : such are indulgences for a given number of days, weeks, or years. This sort of indulgence remits so many days, weeks, or years of penance, which ought to be observed agreeably to the ancient canons of the Church, for the sins which we have committed. 3. Temporary indul- gences are those which are granted for a certain speci- fied time, as for seven or more years. 4. Indefinite in- dulgences are those which are granted without any limitation of time. 5. Perpetual indulgences are those granted ./brei-e?-, and which do not require to be re- newed after a given number of years. G. A r/eneral in- dulgence is one granted by the pope to all the faithful throughout the world. 7. A load indulgence is attach- ed to certain churches, chapels, or other places; it is gained by actually visiting such church or other build- ing or place, and by observing scrupulously all the con- ditions required by the bull granting such indulgence. 8. A iral indulgence is attached to certain movable things, as rosaries, medals, etc., and is granted to those who actually wear these articles with devotion ; should the fashion of them cease, so that they cease to be deem- ed the same articles, the indulgence ceases. So long, however, as such articles continue, and are reputed to be the same, the indulgence continues in force, notwith- standing any accidental alteration which may be made in them, as the affixing of a new string or ribbon to a rosarj'. 9. A^jej-so/;^/ indulgence is one which is grant- ed to certain particular persons, or to several persons in common, as to a confraternity or brotherhood. These privileged persons may gain such indulgences wherever they may happen to be, whether they are in health, in sickness, or at the point of death. 10. Other indul-
gences are termed enjoined penances, panitentim injunctee. I5y them is conferred the remission of so much of the ])unishment which is due to sins at the judgment of tiod as the sinner would have to pay by canonical pen- ances, or by penances enjoined in all their rigor by the priest. An indulgence produces its effect at the very moment when all the works prescribed in order to ob- tain it are performed. (Richard et Gimud, Bibliotheqve Sacree, xiii, .3GG sq.) The scales of payment are pecul- iar, being made to meet a variety of cases, and they are so lenient that the payment of them can form no bar against the subsequent commission of the crime for which an indulgence has already been received."
IV. The ^•Congregation of Indidgence s" {Congregatio Cardinalium de indulgentiis et Sacris reliqxtiis) assists the pope in managing the department of indulgences. It is one of the functions of this congregation to investigate the grounds of all applications on the part of bishops, dioceses, churches, etc., for indulgences, and to report thereon to the pope. See Congregation, vol. ii, p. 475.
V. Criticism of the Romish Doctrine of Indulgence. — We cannot attempt to give in this place a full refutation of the Romish doctrine of indulgences, nor is it nccessarj'. In her 22d Article, the Church of England formally con- demns the Romish doctrine of indulgence as well as Purgatory (q. v.). The article was i'ramed (1553) be- fore the Council of Trent, which endeavored to remedj^ the worst abuses arising from the practice of such a doctrine, but which nevertheless virtually sanctioned the principles naturally involved in the system. In the Parker MS. of 15G2 (the 25th session of the Council of Trent, which was held Dec. 3 and 4, 15G3) appears the change of terms from Scholasticoi-vm doctrina to iJociri- na Romanensium (comp. Pusey's Eii'enicon, part i, p. 207 ; Blunt, Hist, of the Reformation, A.D. 1514-1547, p. 444, 465). The English theologians held "(1) that tem- poral pain, the fruit of sin, is in its nature remedial f.nd disciplinary, both to the simur, and to others that th(y may see and fear; and (2) thr.t as such it is not remis- sible by any sacrament or ordinance intrusted to the Church." The former proposition they support by Jcr. ii, 19; Isa. iii, 0; by the examples of Moses and David; Numb. XX, 12 ; Deut. i, 37 ; 2 Sam. xii, 14. The fol- lowing quotations cover, heiwever, more nearly all the points: "Viewed even in its purest form, as stated by the most eminent eloctors, and sanctioned by papal bulls, the doctrine of indulgence not only introduces a contrp.- diction into the Catholic system, in respect that works of satisfaction, which were originally an integral part of the sacrament of penitence, are entirely disconnected with it, and viewed as a mere matter of ecclesiastical ju- risdiction, but it has this further radical defect pervading all its constituent parts, that me^ral and religious things, which can only be taken as spiritual magnitudes, are considered as material ones, quality being treated wheilly as quantity, and, conseepiently, a standard of external computation and a se)rt of religious arithmetic applied, which involves contradiction. Even in order to estab- lish the superabundance of the merit of Christ, it was affirmed that though a single drop of his blood would have sufficed fe)r a imiversal atonement, yet the Saviour had shed so much, as if it were ne)t the divine sacrifice of love on the part of the Son of God and man, and his atoning death in general, but his several outward suffer- ings and their quantity in which its value and impor- tance consisted. In like manner, on the part of the saints, it was not their peculiar and more exalted moral and religious character, but their several works, and es- pecially the volume rather than the worth of these, which was taken into account ; and the whole was han- dled as something totally disconnected with their per- sons, as an ol jective fund, a fum of ready money in the Church's hands. According to the same category, the imputation of the merits of Christ and the saints was described as a purely external transference of a portion of that sum to one who needed it. For, although a penitent frame of mind was required of the sinner, still