Indulgences for the deceased have been extended for the entire month of November, reports the Vatican's Apostolic Penitentiary in a decree released on October 23, 2020.
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This year, in the current circumstances due to the “covid-19” pandemic, the plenary indulgences for the faithful deceased will be extended for the entire month of November, with the adequacy of the works and conditions to ensure the safety of the faithful.
This Apostolic Penitentiary has received many requests from the sacred pastors asking that this year, because of the epidemic of “covid-19”, pious works be commuted in order to obtain the plenary indulgences applicable to the souls in purgatory, according to the Manual of Indulgences (conc. 29, § 1). For this reason the Apostolic Penitentiary, by special mandate of His Holiness Pope Francis, very willingly establishes and decides that this year, in order to avoid crowds where they are forbidden:
a.- The plenary indulgence for those who visit a cemetery and pray for the deceased, even if only mentally, established as a general rule only on specific days from November 1 to 8, can be transferred to other days of the same month until it ends. These days, freely chosen by the faithful, may also be independent of each other.
b- the plenary indulgence of November 2, established on the occasion of the commemoration of All the Faithful Departed for those who piously visit a church or oratory and recite there the “Our Father” and the “Creed”, can be transferred not only to the Sunday before or after or to the day of the Solemnity of All Saints, but also to another day of the month of November, freely chosen by each of the faithful.
The elderly, the sick and all those who for serious reasons are unable to leave their homes, for example because of restrictions imposed by the competent authority for the time of the pandemic, in order to prevent numerous faithful from crowding the sacred places, may obtain the plenary indulgence provided they unite spiritually with all the other faithful, completely detached from sin and with the intention of fulfilling as soon as possible the three usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer according to the intentions of the Holy Father), recite pious prayers for the dead before an image of Jesus or the Blessed Virgin Mary, for example, Lauds and Vespers of the Office of the Dead, the Marian Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, other prayers for the deceased that are dearest to the faithful, or they should devote themselves to a meditative reading of one of the Gospel passages proposed by the liturgy for the dead, or they should perform a work of mercy by offering to God the pains and difficulties of their own lives.
In order to facilitate the obtaining of divine grace through pastoral charity, this Penitentiary earnestly requests all priests with suitable faculties to offer themselves with particular generosity to the celebration of the sacrament of Penance and to administer Holy Communion to the sick.
However, with regard to the spiritual conditions for the full attainment of the indulgence, it is recalled that recourse must be had to the indications already emanated in the note “On the Sacrament of Penance in the current pandemic situation”, issued by this Apostolic Penitentiary on March 19, 2020.
Finally, since the souls in Purgatory are helped by the suffrages of the faithful and especially by the sacrifice of the altar pleasing to God (cf. Conc. Tr. Sess. XXV, Decr. De Purgatorio), all priests are earnestly invited to celebrate Holy Mass three times on the day of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, in accordance with the Apostolic Constitution “Incruentum Altaris”, promulgated by Pope Benedict XV, of venerable memory, on August 10, 1915.
This decree is valid for the entire month of November. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary.
Given in Rome, from the See of the Apostolic Penitentiary, on October 22, 2020, the memorial of St. John Paul II.
MAURUS. Card. PIACENZA
Paenitentiarius Maior
CHRISTOPHORUS NYKIEL
Regens
