This year it will also be possible to gain Indulgences for the deceased during the whole month of November. A decision that was already adopted last year given the health situation and confirmed by a Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary. The Document is signed by the Major Penitentiary, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, and by the Regent, Monsignor Krzysztof Nykiel.
The Decree
Here is the text of the Decree: “The Apostolic Penitentiary, having listened to the various petitions recently received from several Sacred Pastors of the Church, given the enduring state of the pandemic, confirms and extends for the whole month of November 2021 all the spiritual benefits already granted on October 22, 2020, through the Prot.Decree N. 791/20/I with which, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Plenary Indulgences for the deceased faithful were extended for the whole month of November 2020.
From the renewed generosity of the Church, the faithful will certainly draw pious purposes and spiritual vigor to direct their life according to the evangelical law, in filial communion and devotion to the Supreme Pontiff, visible foundation and Shepherd of the Catholic Church. The present Decree is valid for the whole month of November.”
Ways to Obtain the Indulgences
The purpose is to avoid gatherings in cemeteries. Last year’s Decree provided, among other things, a “Plenary Indulgence for those visiting a cemetery and praying for the deceased even if only mentally, normally established only on the single days from the 1st to the 8th of November, can now be transferred to other days of the same month until its end.” The faithful can choose freely.
Moreover, “the Plenary Indulgence of November 2 — established on the occasion of the Commemoration of all the deceased faithful for those who piously visit a church or an oratory and pray there the “Our Father” and the “Creed” — can be transferred not only to the previous or following Sunday or to the day of the Solemnity of All Saints, but also to any other day of the month of November.
The Elderly and The Sick
Finally, “the elderly, the sick and all those that for serious reasons cannot leave home,” will be able to “obtain the Plenary Indulgence provided that, uniting themselves spiritually to 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, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father), in front of an image of Jesus or of the Blessed Virgin Mary, recite pious prayers for the deceased” such as the Rosary or the meditation of evangelical passages of the Liturgy of the Deceased or simply offering “the pains and hardships of their life.”
Pope Will Go to the French Military Cemetery
This year the Holy Father has decided to celebrate the Commemoration of the Deceased in the French Military Cemetery in Rome. He will celebrate Holy Mass at 11:00 am in the cemetery located in Monte Mario Park on via della Camilluccia. Last year, instead, the Pope celebrated Mass in the church of the Pontifical Teutonic College of Saint Mary in Camposanto in the Vatican. On November 4 at 11:00 am the Pope will celebrate Mass at the Altar of the Chair in the Vatican Basilica, for the Cardinals and Bishops who died in the last 12 months.
Translation by Virginia M. Forrester
