VATICAN CITY, JAN. 11, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Participants in the 6th World Meeting of Families and those who are united to them in prayer have the chance to gain plenary indulgences.
The indulgence is explained in a decree from the Apostolic Penitentiary that was made public Saturday by the Holy See. The World Meeting of Families will be held in Mexico City this Wednesday through Sunday.
The document, signed by Cardinal Francis Stafford, major penitentiary, affirms that «the family has been instituted by God» and it «should exercise till the end of time the noble task of educating new generations in the natural and supernatural good, and in this way support and help to form personalities in harmony with values, capable of shaping their own lives according to the example of Christ.»
It expresses the hope that the meeting «instills in Christian families the strength to transmit in a holy way to future generations the upright principles of conscience that should be cultivated with the help of the grace of God.»
The decree announces that «the Holy Father grants to the faithful the plenary indulgence, to be obtained by the customary conditions […] on the days in which they devotedly participate in the 6th World Meeting of Families.»
«The truly penitent faithful who cannot participate in the event will receive the plenary indulgence, under the same conditions, if, united in spirit and in thought to the faithful present in Mexico City, they recite as a family the ‘Our Father,’ the ‘Credo’ and other devout prayers to invoke Divine Mercy for the goals indicated above, especially during the moments in which the words and messages of the Pontiff are transmitted by television and radio,» the text adds.
Established by Pope John Paul II, the World Meeting of Families is convoked by the Pontiffs every three years to celebrate the divine gift of the family.
