Extension of time to obtain November Indulgences.
Plenary Indulgences – November 2020
On 22nd October 2020, the Apostolic Penitentiary, by the special mandate of His Holiness Pope Francis, extended the period in which the customary plenary indulgences in November may be obtained, namely; a.- the plenary indulgence for those who visit a cemetery and pray for the dead even if only mentally, normally established only on the individual days from 1 to 8 November, can be transferred to other days in the month of November. These days, freely chosen by individual faithful, can also be separated from each other; b.- the plenary indulgence of November 2 established on the occasion of the commemoration of all the faithful departed for those who visit a church or an oratory and
recite the “Our Father” and the “Creed” there, can be transferred not only to the Sunday before or after or on the day of the solemnity of All Saints, but also on another day of the month of November, at the free choice of the individual faithful.
In respect of those who are housebound, the elderly, the sick and all those who for serious reasons cannot leave the house, for example due to restrictions imposed by the competent authority for the time of a pandemic, in order to avoid numbers of faithful crowding into sacred places, will be able to obtain the Plenary indulgence provided that, spiritually uniting with all the other faithful, completely detached from sin and with the intention of complying as soon as possible with the three usual conditions (sacramental confession, reception of the Eucharistic and prayer for the Holy Father’s intentions) recite prayers for the dead dearest to the faithful in front of an image of Jesus or of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or meditate on a reading of one of the Gospel passages proposed by the liturgy for the dead, or carry out a work of mercy. Full official text available here
What are Indulgences? Indulgences are the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven… Indulgences are granted through the ministry of the Church which, as the dispenser of the grace of redemption, distributes the treasury of the merits of Christ and the Saints. See CCC, 1471-9, 1498.