The Catholic Church has decided to grant, under certain conditions, "full indulgence", or forgiveness of sins, to believers struck by the Covid-19 disease pandemic, whether they are in hospital or at home. .
According to a decree made public by one of the Vatican courts on Friday, the pardon also concerns other Catholic faithful: health professionals and relatives caring for patients infected with the new coronavirus and thus exposing themselves to the risk of contagion , as well as people praying enough for patients and an end to the pandemic.
To benefit from these indulgences, the sick will have to participate in a certain number of celebrations retransmitted at a distance or other forms of devotion, while also having "a spirit detached from all sin", stipulates the apostolic penitentiary. The same goes for those who pray for them, reading the Bible for example must be done for "at least half an hour".
Finally, the Church grants forgiveness to the faithful Catholics on the verge of death, provided that they are prepared to do so and that they have recited "regularly a few prayers during their life".
Collective absolutions at the entrance to hospital services
In the Roman Catholic Church, indulgences, enshrined in canon law, are remissions of the punishment for a sin. To access paradise, the deceased must have repaired the evil he committed, either on earth before his death, or by going through purgatory.
The abuse of the use of indulgences by the popes who did not hesitate to monetize them to pay their expenses was originally in the sixteenth century the Protestant Reformation.
In an additional note, the Holy See also indicated on Friday that the absolution of sins could be made "collectively" and "without prior individual confession", in the territories currently most severely affected by the pandemic of related disease to the new coronavirus.
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The Church gives some practical advice for this. A collective absolution will be made, for example, at the entrance to hospital services where there are patients in danger of death, using a loudspeaker to be heard. And if the priest has to approach several faithful, he will have to choose a ventilated place and bring protective masks.