Article — Prümmer, Manuale Theologiae Moralis
Article IV. On The Jubilee Indulgence
558. Historical notes. The first jubilee was granted by Boniface VIII in the year 1300. Yet in the Old Testament there was already a jubilee year, namely, every fiftieth year, in which slaves were set free and contracted debts were remitted.94 The name jubilee is taken from the word iobel, which signifies a sounding horn or trumpet, because the priests had to sound the trumpet in the forty-ninth year to begin the jubilee. Boniface VIII established that a jubilee should be held every hundredth year, but Clement VI already (1343) commanded that a jubilee be celebrated every fiftieth year. Finally, Paul II (1470) ordained that there should be a jubilee year every twenty-fifth year, and in fact, from the year 1475 down to our own days, a jubilee has been celebrated every twenty-fifth year.
Besides this ordinary jubilee, extraordinary jubilees have rather often been granted. Thus, for example, every Pope at the beginning of his pontificate is accustomed to grant an extraordinary jubilee; sometimes jubilees are also granted, not for the whole world, but for a particular place. From the history of many centuries it is evident that the fruits of the jubilee are most abundant for the Catholic religion and the spiritual good of the faithful. Therefore the jubilee year is not undeservedly called the Holy Year.
94 Lev. 25:8 ff.
559. Notion. A jubilee is nothing other than a holy year in which, under certain conditions, the faithful can gain a plenary indulgence, and almost every reservation of jurisdiction in the sacrament of penance ceases. A jubilee therefore includes two things: a plenary indulgence and an extension of jurisdiction granted to confessors. The conditions which are customarily prescribed in an ordinary jubilee are confession, Communion, and the visitation of churches; for an extraordinary jubilee, fasting and almsgiving are customarily required in addition.
560. Conditions required for gaining the jubilee. Very few things are to be said about this matter, because these conditions are customarily determined accurately in each jubilee Bull, and, if a doubt remains, the Holy Office or the Sacred Penitentiary will give clarifications. Furthermore, the same conditions are not required for every jubilee. It is useful briefly to note the following:
The rules to be observed in an ordinary or extraordinary jubilee are customarily almost the same as those which Benedict XIV established for the jubilee of the years 1750 and 1751.95 Therefore the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences answered on March 15, 1852, that all the rules established by Benedict XIV still remain in force unless they have been expressly revoked.
Works already owed from another source do not suffice for gaining the jubilee; hence annual confession and Easter Communion cannot at the same time serve for gaining the jubilee indulgence. Viaticum, however, suffices for gaining the jubilee.96
He who, after having made confession, has fallen into mortal sin before he has performed the last prescribed work must repeat confession, nor does it suffice to elicit perfect contrition. A general confession is not required for gaining the jubilee, but it is often to be counseled.
Particular statutes are customarily given in each jubilee concerning the visits of churches to be made; only this is to be noted generally: if several churches are to be visited once in a day, the day can be reckoned either according to the civil manner, that is, from midnight to the following midnight, or according to the ecclesiastical manner, that is, from noon on the preceding day until twilight on the following day.97
The fast which is customarily prescribed in an extraordinary jubilee is a strict fast, that is, with abstinence from meat, eggs, and milk products. Not infrequently, however, a milder practice is permitted. All who wish to gain the jubilee indulgence must observe the jubilee fast, therefore even the elderly, children, and so forth, unless, however, a special dispensation has been granted.98
Alms sometimes prescribed in a jubilee must be given by all, even by the poor, unless they have obtained a commutation into another work. According to the modern discipline, the individual bishops, by the authority of the Supreme Pontiff, are customarily to determine the amount of alms to be given.
95 These rules are contained in the following Bulls: Peregrinantes, May 5, 1749; Cum nos semper, May 17, 1749; Convocatis, November 25, 1749; Inter praeteritas, December 3, 1749; Paterna caritas, December 17, 1749; Benedictus Deus, December 25, 1750.
96 Cf. Sacred Penitentiary, March 28, 1900.
97 Ibid., February 20, 1900.
98 Decreta authentica Congregationis Indulgentiarum, n. 425 ad 8.
561. The special faculties granted to confessors during a jubilee are:
The faculty of absolving from almost all reserved sins and censures, provided, however, that a salutary penance and other things to be enjoined by law are imposed. By law, however, there are to be enjoined, for example, the obligation of restitution if the right of one's neighbor has been injured, the abjuration of heresy, the reparation of scandal, and so forth. Nevertheless, certain cases are customarily excluded from the faculty of absolving, for example, the absolution of one's own accomplice; the absolution of that priest who, by the absolution of his own accomplice, incurred an excommunication reserved in a most special manner to the Supreme Pontiff, at least if this crime was committed three or more times; the absolution of those who have been excommunicated by name by the Supreme Pontiff, and so forth. The Bull of each jubilee must be consulted.
The faculty of absolving even regulars and nuns from reserved cases.
The faculty of commuting vows, even sworn vows, not excepting a vow not to seek commutation. The following, however, are customarily excepted: a) vows made in favor of a third party and accepted by him (unless, however, he has renounced his right); b) penal vows emitted to remove the danger of sin, unless, however, the commutation is made into a work which removes the danger of sin equally efficaciously. Commutation is not the same as dispensation, and consequently the confessor must impose another work in place of the object of the vow, which can indeed be lighter, but not notably lighter.
The faculty of dispensing from irregularities arising from a wholly occult delict.
The faculty of dispensing from certain impediments of marriage for the internal forum, for example, from the impediment of crime (provided, however, that neither party plotted against the spouse's life).
The faculty of commuting the works prescribed for gaining the jubilee indulgence into another work of nearly the same value. In general, Communion, confession, and prayers according to the intention of the Supreme Pontiff cannot be commuted; but attention must be given to the clauses of the Bull granting the jubilee. For what older authors taught concerning the faculties granted has not infrequently been greatly changed in recent jubilees. If it is granted in that Bull that the faithful may gain the jubilee several times, the faculty of commuting the enjoined works several times is also granted.
A confessor cannot use these faculties except with those who have a sincere will to fulfill all things necessary for gaining the jubilee. Nevertheless, if a penitent who first had this sincere will afterward neglected the prescribed works, he can enjoy the dispensation obtained; he sins venially, however.99 Through a sacrilegious confession reservations and censures are not removed, because then the penitent evidently does not have a sincere will to gain the jubilee.100
99 Cf. St. Alphonsus, Theol. mor., l. 6, n. 537.
100 Benedict XIV, Inter praeteritos, § 24.
562. Suspension of graces. One of the principal ends of a jubilee is to induce the faithful to make a pilgrimage during the jubilee to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul existing at Rome. Therefore, during the Holy Year, many privileges and graces are customarily suspended outside the City (with a few places excepted). In the City privileges and graces are not suspended. When the Holy Year has elapsed, however, all privileges and graces revive. Therefore the following are customarily suspended:
- All indulgences, both plenary and partial, granted by the Roman Pontiff (but not those given by an inferior prelate), with the following excepted:
a) indulgences applicable to the deceased; indeed, all indulgences which at other times can be acquired only by the living can, during the Holy Year, be applied not to the living, but nevertheless to the deceased.
b) the indulgence at the moment of death.
c) indulgences granted for the prayer The Angel of the Lord.
d) the indulgence of the Portiuncula to be gained at Assisi. Outside Assisi, however, the Portiuncula indulgence, like all other "As Often As" (Toties Quoties) indulgences, can be acquired for the deceased alone. There are also certain other indulgences which are not suspended during the time of the jubilee.101
- Many faculties granted by the Holy See, for example, the faculties of absolving from cases and censures reserved to the Roman Pontiff, of commuting vows, of dispensing from irregularities, and of dispensing from impediments of marriage. Faculties granted by the law itself are customarily to remain in force, for example, the faculty of absolving in more urgent cases from reserved sins and censures. For the rest, almost nothing certain can be said concerning these matters, since, according to the discipline in force, the old customs are not always observed. Therefore the one certain rule is the Bull itself announcing the jubilee and determining the individual prescriptions.
101 Beringer-Steinen, Die Ablässe15 I, n. 1214 ff.