87. What must we believe with regard to Indulgences?
We must believe,
1. That the Catholic Church has power to grant Indulgences; and
2. That the use of them is very salutary to us (Council of Trent, Sess. XXV).
88. From whom has the Catholic Church the power of granting Indulgences?
From Jesus Christ, who made no exception when He said: 'Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in Heaven ' (Matt. xvi. 19; xviii. 18).
That the Catholic Church has from the earliest times exercised this full power, is evident even from. 2 Cor. ii. 10.
89. Who has a right to grant Indulgences?
This right belongs especially to our Most Holy Father the Pope, who, being the successor of St. Peter, has received from Christ the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; the Bishops, however, have also the power of granting some Partial Indulgences.
90. For what reasons are Indulgences very salutary to us?
For these:
1. They discharge our debt of temporal punishment.
2. They encourage us to make our peace with God, by substituting easier exercises of piety for the very severe Canonical Penances of the ancient Church.
3. They incite us to true repentance and amendment, since without these requisites they cannot be gained at all.
4. They urge us to receive frequently the Sacraments of Penance and of the Holy Eucharist, and to perform good works.
5. They console fervent penitents in their fear of the judgments of God.
To assert that, by an Indulgence, the Church forgives sins, past or future, or that she grants indulgences for money, is a
