|
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins" which may reduce either or both of the penance required after a sin has been forgiven, or after death, the time to be spent in Purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints".〔(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1471 )〕 The recipient of an indulgence must perform an action to receive it. This is most often the saying (once, or many times) of a specified prayer, but may also include the visiting of a particular place, or the performance of specific good works. Indulgences were introduced to allow for the remission of the severe penances of the early Church and granted at the intercession of Christians awaiting martyrdom or at least imprisoned for the faith.〔Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article ''indulgences''〕 They draw on the Treasury of Merit accumulated by Christ's superabundantly meritorious sacrifice on the cross and the virtues and penances of the saints.〔Wetterau, Bruce. World history. New York: Henry Holt and company. 1994.〕 They are granted for specific good works and prayers〔 in proportion to the devotion with which those good works are performed or prayers recited.〔(''Indulgentiarum doctrina'', chapter 5 and norm 5 )〕 By the later Middle Ages the abuse of indulgences, mainly through commercialization, had become a serious problem which the Church recognized but was unable to restrain effectively. Indulgences were from the beginning of the Protestant Reformation a target of attacks by Martin Luther and all other Protestant theologians. Eventually the Catholic Counter-Reformation curbed the excesses, and indulgences continue to play a role in modern Catholic religious life. Reforms in the 20th century largely abolished the quantification of indulgences, which had been expressed in terms of days or years. These days or years were meant to represent the equivalent of time spent in penance, although it was widely taken to mean time spent in Purgatory. The reforms also greatly reduced the number of indulgences granted for visiting particular churches and other locations. ==Catholic teaching== According to the teachings outlined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church,〔(Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 1472 )〕 two distinct types of consequences follow when a person sins: eternal and temporal. A mortal sin (one that is grave, or serious, in nature and is committed knowingly and freely) is equivalent to refusing friendship with God and communion with the only source of eternal life. The loss of eternal life with God, and the eternal death of hell that is the effect of this rejection, is called the "eternal punishment" of sin. In addition to this eternal punishment due to mortal sin, every sin, including venial sin, is a turning away from God through what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls an unhealthy attachment to creatures, an attachment that must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called purgatory. The resulting need to break this attachment to creatures is another punishment for sin, referred to as "temporal punishment", because, not being a total rejection of God, it is not eternal and can be overcome in time. Even when the sin is forgiven, the associated attachment to creatures may remain. The temporal punishment that follows sin is thus undergone either during life on earth or in purgatory. In this life, as well as by patient acceptance of sufferings and trials, the necessary cleansing from attachment to creatures may, at least in part, be achieved by turning to God in prayer and penance and by works of mercy and charity.〔Cf. (Primer on Indulgences )〕 Indulgences are a help towards achieving this purification. The Catholic doctrine of the communion of saints teaches that the work of cleansing or sanctification does not have to be done entirely by the person directly concerned, since by this communion "the life of each individual son of God in Christ and through Christ is joined by a wonderful link to the life of all his other Christian brothers in the supernatural unity of the Mystical Body of Christ till, as it were, a single mystical person is formed".〔(''Indulgentiarum doctrina'', chapter 2 )〕 The communication of the spiritual goods, which include the infinite merits of Christ himself, is referred to as the "treasury of the Church",〔 and in view of the Church's interpretation of the power of binding or loosing granted by Christ, the Church considers that it may administer to those under its jurisdiction the benefits of these merits in consideration of prayer or other pious works undertaken by the faithful.〔 In opening for individual Christians its treasury, "the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity".〔(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1478 )〕 An indulgence thus does not forgive the guilt of sin, nor does it release from the eternal punishment which Church doctrine associates with unforgiven mortal sins. The Catholic Church teaches instead that indulgences only relieve the temporal punishment resulting from the effect of sin (the effect of rejecting God the source of good), and that a person is still required to have his grave sins absolved, ordinarily through the sacrament of Confession, to receive salvation. Similarly, an indulgence is not a permit to commit sin, a pardon of future sin, nor a guarantee of salvation for oneself or for another.〔(William Kent, "Indulgences", in ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York 1910) )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.catholic.com/tracts/myths-about-indulgences )〕 Ordinarily, forgiveness of mortal sins is obtained through Confession (i.e., penance or reconciliation). Since those who have died in the state of grace (with all mortal sins forgiven) are members of the communion of saints, it is the belief of the Catholic Church that the living can help those whose purification from their sins is not yet completed not only by prayer but also by obtaining indulgences for them.〔(CCC, 1479 )〕 Since the Church on earth has no jurisdiction over the dead, indulgences can be gained for them only ''per modum suffragii'', i.e. by an act of intercession.〔 An indulgence may be plenary (remits all temporal "punishment" required to cleanse the soul from attachment to anything but God) or partial (remits only part of the temporal "punishment", i.e. cleansing, due to sin).〔(''Indulgentiarum doctrina'', norm 2 )〕〔 To gain a plenary indulgence, a person must exclude all attachment to sin of any kind, even venial sin, must perform the work or say the prayer for which the indulgence is granted, and must also fulfil the three conditions of sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and praying for the intentions of the Pope.〔(Normae de Indulgentiis, 20 )〕 The minimum condition for gaining a partial indulgence is to be contrite in heart: on this condition, a Catholic who performs the work or recites the prayer in question is granted, through the Church, remission of temporal punishment of the same worth as is obtained by the person's own action.〔(Normae de Indulgentiis, 4 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「indulgence」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|