All Saints and All Souls Day: A Time of Mercy, Forgiveness and Reflection (Part I)

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza Speaks to ZENIT on the Liturgical and Religious Significance of Upcoming Feasts

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But what is the importance surrounding these two feasts? Can a Plenary Indulgence be obtained for yourself or deceased loved ones? How does the celebration of Halloween overshadow this important feast in the Church?

These are just some of the questions that ZENIT asked Cardinal Mauro Piacenza. As the Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary, he oversees the Vatican tribunal responsible for issues regarding mercy and the forgiveness of sins.

In Part I of this interview with Cardinal Piacenza, ZENIT asked about the upcoming feasts and the possibility of obtaining indulgences for Catholics and their deceased loved ones.

* * *

ZENIT: Eminence, the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls will be celebrated soon. The People of God live these days in a profound way, which is also an occasion for reflection and prayer. Is the practice of indulgences for the deceased still valid?

Cardinal Piacenza: Yes, certainly! On November 2, visiting a cemetery and having fulfilled the usual conditions (having gone to Confession, to Communion, having recited the Creed and prayed for the intentions of the Holy Father), it is possible to obtain a Plenary Indulgence, applicable to a deceased faithful.

ZENIT: Is it only possible on that day?

Cardinal Piacenza: No, on that day it is possible to do so in a particular way by visiting a cemetery. However, it is possible to gain a Plenary Indulgence every other day of the year, by carrying out the various works of piety, contained in the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum (the compilation of ways in which it is possible to obtain the cancellation of the punishments due to sins), and to choose to apply it to oneself, or to a deceased faithful.  The only “limitation” to this pious practice is that it can only be obtained once a day; therefore, one can gain only one [plenary] indulgence a day, applicable to oneself, or to a deceased faithful.

ZENIT: At times, in some holy cards, there are these words “100 days of indulgence, 300 days of indulgence.” How must these words be interpreted?

Cardinal Piacenza: Until the reform of the Second Vatican Council, it was possible to find indications of this type. The correct theological reflections leads us to hold that, eternity being out of time and not a “prolonged time,” the specific indication is not opportune of the temporal punishment and the relative indulgence. Therefore, today we speak only of two types of indulgence: Plenary, when all the punishments due to sins are cancelled, or Partial, when only part of them are forgiven.

ZENIT: But isn’t sacramental absolution enough? Isn’t it enough to go to Confession?

Cardinal Piacenza: The first great Reconciliation, certainly, is the event of the Death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ! In Christ, all the Father’s promises became a “yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20). He is the source of mercy, the end of mercy and mercy itself. Pope Francis does not cease to remind the Church how this reality of mercy is crucial for the Christian announcement and discipleship. If you look more closely, Saint John Paul II’s admonition “Be not afraid” is in the same line of mercy. Also because, how could man not be afraid if there wasn’t the possibility of mercy? And how could mercy be a real lived experience, and not just a proclaimed word, if it didn’t determine, in the concrete existence of each one, the effective possibility of overcoming all fear thanks to the certainty of the truth, the serenity of the good and, lastly, of Christ’s victory over all the ugly things of human history?

As every human act, sins also have their consequences. The Sacrament of Reconciliation absolves from sins, but it does not eliminate all the related consequences. Through indulgences, Mother Church draws generously from the treasure of divine mercy, offering the faithful the possibility of the remission, not only of their faults, but also of the punishments due to them. For instance, if a man strikes another man, the two can reconcile themselves, but nothing will be able to cancel the pain and the sign of the slap on the cheek. Indulgences also cancel that sign. The treasure from which the Church draws and constitutes her truest and most precious richness is well understood. It is the surest and most consoling bank that exists and her shareholders are truly fortunate!

(Part II will be published on October 31, 2014.)

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Antonio Gaspari

Cascia (PG) Italia Studi universitari a Torino facoltà di Scienze Politiche. Nel 1998 Premio della Fondazione Vittoria Quarenghi con la motivazione di «Aver contribuito alla diffusione della cultura della vita». Il 16 novembre del 2006 ho ricevuto il premio internazionale “Padre Pio di Pietrelcina” per la “Indiscutibile professionalità e per la capacità discreta di fare cultura”. Il Messaggero, Il Foglio, Avvenire, Il Giornale del Popolo (Lugano), La Razon, Rai tre, Rai due, Tempi, Il Timone, Inside the Vatican, Si alla Vita, XXI Secolo Scienza e Tecnologia, Mondo e Missione, Sacerdos, Greenwatchnews. 1991 «L'imbroglio ecologico- non ci sono limiti allo sviluppo» (edizioni Vita Nuova) . 1992 «Il Buco d'ozono catastrofe o speculazione?» (edizioni Vita Nuova). 1993 «Il lato oscuro del movimento animalista» (edizioni Vita Nuova). 1998 «Los Judios, Pio XII Y la leyenda Negra» Pubblicato da Planeta in Spagna. 1999 «Nascosti in convento» (Ancora 1999). 1999 insieme a Roberto Irsuti il volume: «Troppo caldo o troppo freddo? - la favola del riscaldamento del pianeta» (21mo Secolo). 2000 “Da Malthus al razzismo verde. La vera storia del movimento per il controllo delle nascite” (21mo Secolo, Roma 2000). 2001 «Gli ebrei salvati da Pio XII» (Logos Press). 2002 ho pubblicato tre saggi nei volumi «Global Report- lo stato del pianeta tra preoccupazione etiche e miti ambientalisti» (21mo Secolo, Roma 2002). 2002 ho pubblicato un saggio nel nel Working Paper n.78 del Centro di Metodologia delle scienze sociali della LUISS (Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli di Roma) «Scienza e leggenda, l’informazione scientifica snobbata dai media». 2003 insieme a VittorFranco Pisano il volume “Da Seattle all’ecoterrorismo” (21mo Secolo, Roma 2003). 2004 ho pubblicato insieme a Riccardo Cascioli “Le Bugie degli Ambientalisti” (Edizioni Piemme). 2004 coautore con del libro “Emergenza demografia. Troppi? Pochi? O mal distribuiti?” (Rubbettino editore). 2004 coautore con altri del libro “Biotecnologie, i vantaggi per la salute e per l’ambiente” ((21mo Secolo, Roma 2004). 2006 insieme a Riccardo Cascioli “Le Bugie degli Ambientalisti 2” (Edizioni Piemme). 2008 insieme a Riccardo Cascioli il libro “Che tempo farà… Falsi allarmismi e menzogne sul clima (Piemme). 2008, è stata pubblicata l’edizione giapponese de “Le bugie degli ambientalisti” edizioni Yosensha. 2009. insieme a Riccardo Cascioli “I padroni del Pianeta – le bugie degli ambientalisti su incremento demografico, sviluppo globale e risorse disponibili” (Piemme). 2010 insieme a Riccardo Cascioli, è stato pubblicato il volume “2012. Catastrofismo e fine dei tempi” (Piemme). 2011 Questo volume è stato pubblicato anche in Polonia con l’imprimatur della Curia Metropolitana di Cracovia per le e3dizioni WYDAWNICTTWO SW. Stanislawa BM.

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