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Questions / Confession and the sacraments

What is a plenary indulgence?

Church teaching

Answered on video by Catholic Answers

Video: What is a Plenary Indulgence?, Catholic Answers Live, published Feb 25, 2016. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

In short: Plenary means all of the temporal punishment due to sin is removed; partial means some. CCC 1471

The answer, in writing

Church teaching

“An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.” CCC 1471

Our words

Plenary means complete. The usual conditions are confession, Communion, prayer for the Pope’s intentions and real detachment from sin. That last one is the hard part, and the point.

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Sources on this page

How we know · 1 Catechism paragraph
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1471 (official text on vatican.va).

Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words and cites every teaching claim. Our own wording is not an official Church text. Found a mistake? Report an errorCorrections.