Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land
COMMON DIRECTIVES for obtaining Indulgences during the Year of Faith
For the Catholic Church of the Holy Land, the Year of Faith officially begins on October 28, 2012, and will end on the last Sunday of November 2013. On September 14, 2012, the Apostolic Penitentiary issued a Decree in which we read "certain exercises of piety, that can be done during the Year of Faith would be enriched by the gift of holy indulgences.” During this year we are all called to: - profess (sing or recite) publicly our 'Credo,' - witness to our faith in a clear and concrete way; - seek to know better and to love the doctrine of the Catholic Church. All of the faithful can receive a plenary indulgence in remission of the temporal punishment of sins, imparted though God’s mercy and in the same way applicable for the deceased faithful, on condition that one: -
approaches the Sacrament of Reconciliation and confesses one’s sins, receives communion in the body and blood of Christ during a celebration, makes a profession of faith by reciting the Our Father and the ‘Credo,’ prays for the intentions of the Holy Father.
Privileged by the proximity and the grace of the Holy places and taking into consideration that the assemblies of our celebrations and participation in our catechetical programs often include Christians of different rites, We, the Catholics Ordinaries of the Holy Land, invite our faithful to draw on the treasury of grace of the Church, our mother, in an attitude of faith, hope and love... In visiting, as a parish, diocese or religious community, the following churches: - the Basilicas of the Resurrection, or the Annunciation, the Nativity; - the Cathedrals or Co-cathedrals of: Saint Andrew of the Melkites in Acco; Saint Louis IX of the Maronites in Haifa; Saint Georges of the Melkites in Amman: Our Lady of Grace of the Maronites in Nicosia; and the Holy Name of Jesus of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
In actively participating in the liturgical or catechetical life of the parish: - on the day of the feast (solemnity) of the patron of the parish Church, - during celebrations preparing for Christmas and Easter, - during catechetical courses on faith during Lent (at least three times) or during missions organized during this year. In participating as a pilgrim: - in celebrations specific to the Holy Places, with particular attention to those related to the life of Jesus the Christ, or organized to venerate the witnesses of faith (Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist) and the Apostles (Peter, Paul, Thomas, James), - in a visit to the site of the Baptism of Jesus (Jericho-Shariah and Al-Maghtas in Jordan) on the days following the feast of the Epiphany.
Note: The contemplatives, monks or nuns, can obtain a plenary indulgence in the church of the monastery on the day of the feast of its dedication and that of the holy founders of the Order. In addition to the three Papal blessings granted by the Code, that each diocesan Bishop or Eparch will be able to impart as the Apostolic penitentiary authorizes during the Year of Faith, a fourth Papal blessing with Plenary Indulgence, on the day which the Bishop presides at a particularly solemn ceremony.
Signed in Jerusalem, October 26, 2012
+Fouad Twal Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem A.C.O.H.L. President
Rev. Pietro Felet General Secretary A.C.O.H.L.