Sin leaves marks —Indulgences wash them away

By Fr Robert Christo
Vicar for Communications

In this Jubilee Year, the word ‘indulgence’ is popping up but it often carries an air of mystery, confusion or even controversy. Some hear it and think of a forgotten medieval practice. Others may recall history lessons on Martin Luther and the Reformation in 1517, assuming indulgences were about buying salvation.
But indulgences have nothing to do with selling grace nor forgiveness of sin and everything to do with God’s mercy, the healing of sin’s effects, and the deep reservoir of grace in the Church.
Think of indulgences like a ferry ride from Port of Spain to Tobago. If you want to cross, you need to pay the fare—that’s like the temporal punishment for sin. Even if you’re forgiven in Confession, there’s still a journey ahead—it leaves a mark.
Now imagine you arrive at the terminal, but someone has already covered your ticket. You still have to board the boat and take the trip, but the debt is paid. That’s an indulgence. It doesn’t erase the need for personal conversion, but it removes the lingering effects of sin, helping you reach the destination faster.
Indulgences do not forgive sins but heals the damage. Only Christ in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) does that. But sin is like breaking a window: even if you apologise, the glass still needs fixing.
Sin has two effects:
1. Eternal Consequence (Hell)–Forgiven in the Sacrament of Reconciliation .
2. Temporal Consequence (sin’s effects on the soul)–Removed through indulgences, penance, prayer, acts of charity, and suffering.

This is why indulgences exist, to wipe away the stains of temporal punishment that linger even after sin is forgiven.
Indulgences are not counter-scriptural. The authority to grant indulgences comes from Christ Himself. In Matthew 16:19, Jesus tells Peter: “Whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.”
The Church, as the Body of Christ, has the power and authority to dispense the merits of Christ and the saints to help believers cleanse the stains of sin. This is what we call the treasury of the Church, filled with the infinite grace of Christ’s sacrifice and the holiness of the saints.
Granting indulgences has had a rocky history of abuse. Back in the Middle Ages, some corrupt clergy started selling indulgences like they were lotto tickets for Heaven.
They told people they could pay money to get out of purgatory, which distorted the real meaning of indulgences. This led to the Protestant Reformation, with Martin Luther condemning these abuses.
But just because something was misused doesn’t mean it wasn’t real and has no value. The Church owned and corrected the errors, removing any sense of commercial transactions, and restored indulgences to their true spiritual purpose.
In the book of Leviticus, Israel had Jubilee Years, where debts were forgiven, and slaves were set free. The Church, in the spirit of Jubilee, offers plenary indulgences so that the faithful can receive extraordinary mercy, cleansing the effects of sin and renewing their spiritual lives.
Many Catholics don’t realise that indulgences are available or how they work. Here’s what’s needed:
1. Go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation (within a reasonable time).
2. Receive Holy Communion.
3. Pray for the Pope (Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be).
4. Continue to strive to be detached from sin (even venial sin).
5. Do the prescribed act (praying the Rosary, reading Scripture, making a Jubilee pilgrimage, etc.).

Do you remember the ‘bun bun’ after cooking (burning) a pot of pelau?
• You tell Granny what happened, and she forgives you (Confession).
• But the pot still has burnt rice stuck on it (temporal punishment).
• You now have to scrub that pot clean or Granny, in her mercy, takes over and scrubs it for you (indulgence).

So indulgences are not a shortcut. They require proper spiritual disposition, but they help remove the stains sin leaves behind.
Indulgences are about grace and not about payment. Indulgences, when properly understood, are not about buying Heaven. They are about God’s mercy, the Church’s authority, and our journey toward holiness.
The Church, like a loving mother, provides grace from the treasury of Christ and the saints, helping us move forward without toting spiritual baggage.
So, if Jesus already paid the price, why refuse the receipt?