While confession and indulgences are related, they help in different ways. Confession remedies an eternal problem while indulgences remedy a temporary one.
As the Catechism explains, “sin has a double consequence. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the ‘eternal punishment’ of sin. On the other hand, every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the ‘temporal punishment’ of sin” (CCC 1472). Thus, there are two types of punishment due for sin: eternal and temporal.
Confession removes the “eternal punishment” due for mortal sin, which is hell. If we confess our mortal sins, they will not prevent us, ultimately, from entering heaven. But that does not mean we will immediately enter heaven, even if we confess moments before death. As the Book of Revelation tells us, regarding heaven, “… nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who does abominable things…” (Rev 21:27).
Confession may restore our friendship with God, but it does not remove all our imperfections. Someone may, for example, have a habit of sleeping in and skipping Sunday Mass. They may confess the sin, and the guilt of that sin will be forgiven. If they died at that moment, they would not go to hell for it. But they would most likely still be lacking a love for our Lord in the Holy Eucharist and may have a habitual laziness, imperfections which prevent them from full communion with the Lord in heaven. Those flaws need to be “purged,” which is what happens when we do penance in this life or when we suffer in purgatory before, ultimately, entering heaven.
If that doesn’t make it clear, consider this additional example of a kid who breaks a window at home. If he refuses to apologize to his dad, the father-son relationship might be strained. But if he apologizes, the guilt of the act is quickly forgiven. That is like confession forgiving the guilt of our sin. It restores our relationship with our heavenly Father. But, in the example, the window is still broken and needs to be repaired. The kid will be asked by his dad to help pay for the window, in reparation for the damage. In a similar way, our forgiven sins have lingering effects that must be repaired.
And that is where indulgences can help. An indulgence won’t forgive the guilt of a sin, but it will help repair the damage left by a sin after it is forgiven. The Church sets up indulgences to encourage us to carry out acts of penance or charity, the merits of which, along with the superabundant merits of Jesus Christ and all the saints, can offset the temporal punishment due for sin.
There are two categories of indulgences. If an indulgence remits all the punishment due for a particular soul, it is called a “plenary indulgence.” If it only remits part of the punishment for a soul, it is called “partial.” For example, the Church decrees we may obtain a plenary indulgence by going to confession, receiving Communion, praying for the pope, and then praying the rosary publicly in a group. It also declares that we may obtain a partial indulgence by meeting those same conditions, but by praying the rosary privately.
In short, the saving grace of Jesus Christ, dispensed in confession, will keep us out of hell, removing the eternal punishment. Indulgences, on the other hand, by applying the superabundant merits of Christ and the saints, will purify us for entry into heaven by removing some or all temporal punishment.
As is often the case, this is not an either-or situation. We should seek both regular confession and indulgences.
Fr. Signalness is pastor of Queen of the Most Holy Rosary in Stanley and St. Ann in Berthhold. If you have a question you were afraid to ask, now is the time to ask it! Simply email your question to [email protected] with the “Question Afraid to Ask” in the subject line.