How To Obtain the Jubilee Indulgence in 2025

Indulgences refer to the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven as to the fault, remission which is granted by the Church outside the sacrament of penance.

There are two kinds of indulgences: plenary indulgence, which remits all the temporal punishment due to sin, and partial indulgence, which only remits only part of it.

It is the Supreme Pontiff, to whom Our Lord has entrusted the power to dispense all of the spiritual treasure of the Church, who can grant and distribute indulgences, as well as all those to whom the Supreme Pontiff has granted this power.

To gain an indulgence, one must be baptized and not excommunicated, have the intention of gaining it by accomplishing the prescribed work, be in the state of grace and detached from all venial sin. Indulgences can be gained for oneself or for the souls in Purgatory.

The Decree published by the Apostolic Penitentiary recalls the usual conditions: “All the faithful, who are truly repentant and free from any affection for sin [...], who are moved by a spirit of charity and who, during the Holy Year, purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by Holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence.”

To obtain the Indulgence, the faithful will have to go on a pilgrimage to the specified places, “devoutly visit” one of the specified sacred places, or perform an act of penance or mercy. A pilgrimage to Rome is recommended. The Penitentiary recommends a visit to the seven churches dear to St. Philip Neri, but also the Iter Europaeum—the European national churches in Rome.

Or an itinerary dedicated to the great female saints—”the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, and the churches of St Brigid at Campo de' Fiori, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Trinità dei Monti, the Basilica of Saint Cecilia in Trastevere, and the Basilica of Sant'Augustine in Campo Marzio.”

Also, visits to “the Sanctuary of Divine Love (the ‘Divino Amore’), the Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia [which houses the Sanctuary chapel of The Divine Mercy], the Church of St Paul at the Tre Fontane, (the site of the Martyrdom of the Apostle), the Roman Catacombs.”

The faithful are invited to follow the example and the command of Christ to rediscover the corporal works of mercy: to give food to the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to welcome strangers, to visit the sick, to visit the imprisoned, and to bury the dead.

They should also engage in spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, to instruct the ignorant, to admonish sinners, to comfort the sorrowful, to forgive all injuries, to bear wrongs patiently, and to pray for the living and the dead.

On the occasion of the Holy Year, the Society of Saint Pius X will organize an international pilgrimage to Rome on August 19, 20, and 21, 2025.