Jubilee Year of Hope Plenary Indulgences

The Holy See issued a decree on May 13, 2024, outlining the many ways that Catholics can obtain a plenary indulgence during the 2025 Jubilee Year.
 
The decree signed by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the Director of the Apostolic Penitentiary, provides Catholics with the opportunity to gain indulgences by making pilgrimages, prayerful visits to specific churches, or by practicing works of mercy during the holy year. You can read that decree here:
 
Read the Vatican Release
 
A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Catholic Church through the merits of Jesus Christ to remove the temporal punishment due to sin.  The indulgence applies to sins already forgiven. A plenary indulgence cleanses the soul as if the person had just been baptized. Plenary indulgences obtained during the Jubilee Year can also be applied to souls in purgatory with the possibility of obtaining two plenary indulgences for the deceased in one day, according to the Apostolic Penitentiary.
 
To obtain an indulgence, the usual conditions of detachment from all sin, sacramental confession, Holy Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the pope must be met. 

Make a Pilgrimage to Rome
Catholics who make a pilgrimage to Rome during the 2025 Jubilee Year can obtain a plenary indulgence by visiting at least one of the four major papal basilicas: St. Peter’s Basilica, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, or the Church of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
 
Visits to Sacred Places in the Diocese of Baton Rouge
In the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Catholics can gain a plenary indulgence by making a pious pilgrimage to St. Joseph Cathedral or one of the five other churches designated by Bishop Duca including St. Aloysius, Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge Deanery), Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, St. Francisville (Northwest Deanery), Mater Dolorosa, Independence (Northeast Deanery), Ascension of Our Lord, Donaldsonville (South Deanery), and St. Theresa of Avila, Gonzales (East Central Deanery). 
 
A pious visit includes spending a “suitable” amount of time during a prayerful visit in Eucharistic adoration, either in exposition or before the tabernacle, meditation, and concluding with praying for the intentions of Pope Francis, the recitation of the Our Father, any legitimate form of the Creed, and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
 
Uniting Oneself Spiritually with Those on Jubilee Pilgrimage
Those who cannot go on pilgrimage or make a visit to a sacred place for serious reasons will be able to gain the Indulgence wherever they are by uniting themselves spiritually with those who do so, and reciting the Our Father, the Creed, and other prayers connected with the Holy Year while offering up their sufferings or hardships.
 
Conditions for the Indulgences
To obtain any of the plenary indulgences the following conditions must be fulfilled:

• Detachment from all sin, even venial.
• Sacramental confession, holy Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the pope. These three conditions can be fulfilled a few days before or after performing the works to gain the indulgence, but it is appropriate that Communion and the prayer take place on the same day that the work is completed.  
• A single sacramental confession is sufficient for several plenary indulgences, but frequent sacramental confession is encouraged to obtain the grace of deeper conversion and purity of heart.  
• For each plenary indulgence that is sought, however, a separate Holy Communion and a separate prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father are required.  
• The prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father is left up to the choice of the individual, but an Our Father and Hail Mary are suggested.

More information about the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 can be found at www.diobr.org/jubilee​.​​