Southern Cross Article February 2016
YEAR OF MERCY – Doors and Indulgences
At the beginning of December Holy Doors were opened in Cathedrals in Rome and around the world to
mark the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Ours is on the South-East side of the Cathedral, at
Penola and at Sevenhill churches
Some people might feel all this is a bit outdated yet we are a church that lives through symbols. The
symbolism of an Open Door speaks volumes into the world of today that is full of barriers and
exclusions. Again, the Holy Door may seem naïve yet you might rather see it as having a simplicity that
presents God’s real merciful care for us, especially when we think that the final door of our life is when
we enter eternity.
In the document The Face of Mercy, announcing the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis wrote: ‘the Holy Door is
a door of mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons
and instils hope.’ It’s a door also through which we must go out to proclaim mercy to all, ‘opening our
hearts to those living on the outermost fringes of society’, opening our eyes to see ‘the wounds of our
brothers and sisters who are denied their dignity….May we reach out to them and support them so that
they can feel the warmth of our presence and our friendship, and fraternity…together may we break
down the barriers of indifference.’
One part of our tradition is more puzzling; it is about indulgences. The common understanding was that
the church possessed a treasury of mercy and grace, in which the merits of Christ and the saints made
up for our faults. Indulgences were an expression of the ceaseless exchange of charity in the Body of
Christ.
We may find this very hard to understand and make part of our spiritual life. The theology of
indulgences believes that even after sins are forgiven after repentance, confession and absolution they
left behind a sort of scar or scab, a debt that was called ‘temporal punishment’ that was dealt with
through prayer, penance and goodness. If not dealt with in this life it would be dealt with in Purgatory.
But the Pope as successor of Peter had the “power of the keys” and could eradicate the debt partially or
fully (called a Plenary Indulgence – a symbol of God’s unconditional Mercy). Initially these indulgences
were rare but pastoral need led to the frequency and multiplication of them and also to easier
conditions of prayers and devotional acts that were necessary to receive them.
In this Year, as Pope Francis sees it from his emphasis on inclusive pastoral care, he writes: “From the
heart of the Trinity, from the depths of the mystery of God, the great river of mercy wells up and
overflows unceasingly. It is the spring that will never run dry, no matter how many people draw from it.
Every time someone is in need, he or she can approach it, because the mercy of God never ends”.
We are able to gain plenary indulgences if we are “truly repentant, duly confessed, communing
sacramentally, and who pray according to the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.” That is,
 be in a state of grace by celebrating the sacrament of Penance, celebrating Holy Eucharist with a
reflection on mercy
 the profession of faith (Creed)
 a prayer for the intentions of the Pope.
For the Year of Mercy, the plenary indulgence is widely available to, as Pope Francis want Mercy to
reach all:
 Each of the Faithful each time the person passes through a Door of Mercy,
 The sick, elderly and alone, who are often housebound and unable to enter a Holy Door - by living with
faith and joyful hope their moment of trial, and by receiving communion or attending Holy Mass and
community prayer, even through various means of communication (for example, Mass via the internet
or TV).
 Those in prison, who are able to obtain the indulgence in the chapel of the prison. The gesture of
directing their thought and prayer to the Father each time they cross the threshold of their cell signifies
their passage through the Holy Door.
 Each of the Faithful who performs one or more of the corporal or spiritual works of mercy (Corporal
Works are: Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the
sick, visit the imprisoned, bury the dead; Spiritual Works are: Admonish the sinner, instruct the ignorant,
counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful, bear wrongs patiently, forgive all injuries, pray for the
living and the dead).
We note that the Sacrament of Penance is able to be celebrated 7 days either side of the Action of
Mercy. Holy Doors are at the Cathedral, at the Churches at Penola and Sevenhill.
Let us not forget that we are ‘symbol’ communities that are given these spiritual gifts through ordinary,
everyday signs that open out the mystery, that invite us into a reality of God’s gracious kindness to us, a
kindness that we can share with others in need of compassion and mercy.
Fr Anthony Kain
Office for Worship