An indulgence is a term used in the teaching of the Catholic Church to describe "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". It is 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. An indulgence is not a permit to commit sin, a pardon of future sin, nor a guarantee of salvation for oneself or for another. Forgiveness of mortal sins is obtained through Confession (also known as the sacrament of penance or reconciliation) .
Indulgences emerged in the 11th and 12th centuries when the idea of purgatory took widespread hold and when the popes became the activist leaders of the reforming church. Indulgences could be granted only by popes or, to a lesser extent, archbishops and bishops as ways of helping ordinary people measure and amortize their remaining debt. "Plenary," or full, indulgences cancelled all the existing obligation, while "partial" indulgences remitted only a portion of it.
To clarify, an indulgence is not a permission to commit sin, nor a pardon of future sin, and it is not the forgiveness of the guilt of sin. It is the extra-sacramental remission of the temporal punishment due, in Gods justice, to sin that has been forgiven, which remission is granted by the Church in the exercise of the power of the keys, through the application of the superabundant merits of Christ and of the saints, and for some just and reasonable motive.
In summary, an indulgence is a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins that have already been forgiven. It is granted by the Church under certain prescribed conditions and is not a permit to commit sin, a pardon of future sin, nor a guarantee of salvation for oneself or for another.
