Mercy in the Jubilee Year: Plenary Indulgences
Wednesday 26th March 2025This month, our Jubilee reflections have a particular focus on forgiveness and reconciliation as we explore how God seeks to pour out his mercy to us in this Holy Year of Jubilee.
Last week, we explored how Christ’s sacrifice on the cross opened wide God’s love and mercy to all; a beautiful gift renewed to us each and every day through the sacramental life of the Church.
In this year of Jubilee, we are invited to leave behind our stubbornness and to open our hearts and minds to God by partaking in the Sacraments of the Church; through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and through His presence in Blessed Sacrament.
Plenary Indulgences
The Year of Jubilee also offers the opportunity for a special grace that wipes away the temporal punishment for sins already forgiven.
When we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, our sins are fully forgiven. However, there remains a need for purification in purgatory to remove the lasting effects of that sin.
By obtaining this special grace – called a plenary indulgence – this “temporal punishment” for those sins forgiven through the Sacrament of Reconciliation is removed.
Plenary Indulgences can also be obtained on behalf of our loved ones who have died, with the possibility of obtaining two plenary indulgences in one day, when one is on behalf of someone who has died.
Conditions to obtain an indulgence are:
- Be resolved to avoid sin and live in a spirit of charity
- Go to confession
- Receive the Holy Eucharist
- Pray for the intentions of the Pope.
The Indulgence can be obtained by undertaking a pilgrimage to any designated Jubilee site and observing the conditions listed above.
Those unable to participate in solemn celebrations, pilgrimages, or religious visits – including people who are sick, have accessibility needs, or are in prison – can also receive an Indulgence wherever they are by reciting the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any approved form, and other prayers associated with the Holy Year, such as the Jubilee Prayer.
Click here to download our FAQs on Plenary Indulgences
A Season of Reconciliation
The Season of Lent is an ideal time to embrace this special grace as we reflect on how we have strayed from God’s love in preparation for Holy Week.
Many parishes across the diocese will be holding special services of reconciliation and additional opportunities for the sacrament of confession during this period. Please check with your local parish for more information.
Daily confessions are also heard at Salford Cathedral‘s Temporary Church and St Mary’s “The Hidden Gem“, in Manchester – one of our designated churches for the Jubilee Year.
Private pilgrimages – as an individual or family – can also be made to our six designated churches for the Jubilee, as an additional gesture of returning to the mercy and love of God. Please click here for more information on our churches.
Tagged | Jubilee 2025 | Jubilee of Jubilees | Resources
