One plenary indulgence — remission of all temporal punishment due to sin — per day is a tremendous gift of the Church, but two in one day is an enormously rare exception granted for this Holy Jubilee Year 2025. Yet the Vatican Apostolic Penitentiary that deals with granting indulgences has decreed that during this Jubilee Year 2025, “[T]he faithful who have carried out an act of charity on behalf of the souls in Purgatory, if they receive Holy Communion a second time that day, can obtain the plenary indulgence twice on the same day, applicable only to the deceased (this must take place within a Eucharistic celebration …).” 

Reacting to this decree, Father Jeffrey Kirby, pastor of Our Lady of Grace parish in Indian Land, South Carolina, Register contributor and the host of the YouTube channel “Daily Discipleship with Father Kirby,” said enthusiastically, “What a tremendous gift! This is extraordinary. This is a powerful spiritual opportunity that every Christian should pursue and seek for themselves and for their beloved dead.” 

“The immense value of this ‘treasure’ is not to be understated!” emphasized Susan Tassone, who has authored several books on purgatory. “With this, we have this tremendous opportunity to avoid purgatory by gaining indulgences for ourselves and applying an indulgence to relieve and release the holy souls in purgatory, the ‘Church Suffering.’ The Church never forgets her dead. It’s a win-win.” 

Tassone, who calls this double indulgence “something unprecedented,” pointed out that great saints knew their inestimable worth. She quoted St. Ignatius of Loyola, who taught, “Indulgences are of such value that I find myself unable to appreciate them according to their true worth or to speak of them highly enough. Thus, I exhort you to hold them in the highest possible esteem.” 

“The Church is being particularly generous with her spiritual treasury during this Jubilee Year,” said Father Kirby, encouraging “every soul, and especially the pastors of souls, to seek the Jubilee indulgences and encourage others to do so. In our walk with the Lord Jesus, he blesses his Church with these spiritual gifts. In a secular world, we need as much help as we can get, and indulgences are a part of it.” 

Father Kirby made clear the meaning of this exceptional moment. “This gracious opportunity reminds us of our union with those who have gone before us with the sign of faith. It reminds us that we are still united with the faithful departed by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As members of the Body of Christ, we are able to pray and offer spiritual help to those in purgatory. We do not work out our salvation alone. We are united in one body. This Jubilee is for us and for the faithful departed.” 

“God lavishes his mercy on us through indulgences,” Tassone added. “Think of the number of souls we can get out of purgatory.” 

Know the Requirements 

It is important first to know the requirements for the Jubilee of Hope indulgence. The document follows the official norms in the Manual for Indulgences applicable for all plenary indulgences.  

“All the faithful, who are truly repentant and free from any affection for sin, who are moved by a spirit of charity and who, during the holy year, purified through the sacrament of penance and refreshed by holy Communion, pray for the intentions of the supreme pontiff [usually an Our Father and Hail Mary (and Glory Be)], will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all their sins, which can be applied in suffrage to the souls in purgatory,” it states. 

Next, the specific Jubilee requirements include many options, beginning with making a pilgrimage to Rome and its four major basilicas or other specifically designated churches there, such as those dedicated to prominent female saints; or any of three basilicas in the Holy Land. 

Pilgrims do not have to travel abroad. They can obtain the indulgence in many ways and places near them, beginning in each diocese, with churches specifically designated by the local bishop. In addition, visits to Marian shrines and performing works of mercy and penance are also acceptable routes. 

Corporal and Spiritual Works to Aid Souls 

Tassone pointed out that Cardinal DeDonatis, who heads the Apostolic Penitentiary, wrote, “Despite the rule that only one plenary indulgence can be obtained per day, the faithful who have carried out an act of charity on behalf of the souls in Purgatory, if they receive Holy Communion a second time that day, can obtain the plenary indulgence twice on the same day,” although the second indulgence is “applicable only to the deceased.” This is an essential requirement: The second plenary indulgence can only be applied to the souls in purgatory. 

“Our spiritual tradition has always favored pious acts for indulgences,” explained Father Kirby. “With this Jubilee, the spiritual works of mercy are now united with the corporal works of mercy and now both pious actions and charitable works are recognized and have indulgences attached to them. This is a great development and a strong encouragement for all of us to do both pious practices and corporal works of mercy.” 

“If we live the Christian way of life,” he said, “indulgences can flow into our heart and our souls experience healing and restoration.” 

The Jubilee Vatican decree lists the corporal and spiritual works and presents many ways to put them into practice, such as visiting “for an appropriate amount of time, their brothers and sisters who are in need or in difficulty (the sick, prisoners, lonely elderly people, disabled people...), in a sense making a pilgrimage to Christ present in them (Matthew 25, 34-36) according to the usual spiritual, sacramental and prayer conditions. The faithful can repeat these visits throughout the Holy Year, even daily, acquiring a plenary indulgence each time.” 

The indulgence can also be obtained “through abstaining, in a spirit of penance, at least for one day of the week from futile distractions (real but also virtual distractions, for example, the use of the media and/or social networks), from superfluous consumption (for example by fasting or practicing abstinence according to the general norms of the Church and the indications of the bishops), as well as by donating a proportionate sum of money to the poor; by supporting works of a religious or social nature, especially in support of the defense and protection of life in all its phases, but also by supporting the quality of life of abandoned children, young people in difficulty, the needy or lonely elderly people, or migrants” or giving “a reasonable portion of one’s free time to voluntary activities that are of service to the community.” 

When we imitate Our Lord by fasting, praying and persevering, we are able to bring our soul and all other souls we love “into the sweet-smelling grace of Our Lord’s mercy and forgiveness, which is the great goal of the Jubilee Year,” said Tassone. “Ask God and one another for forgiveness — and offering forgiveness to the people we need to forgive. We can still more greatly glorify him by helping him to release these holy souls of his justice, so they can go to praise him and enjoy him forever in heaven.” She also always suggests the benefit of having Gregorian Masses said for the deceased. 

Important points bear repeating: These indulgences for works of mercy can be received many, many times during the Jubilee Year, even daily. When gaining the two on a day, a separate Holy Communion and a separate prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father are required. Most importantly, the second plenary indulgence can only be applied to the deceased, the souls in purgatory. 

Otherworldly Results 

Father Kirby stressed that “Indulgences are a great help to us in this life. They show us our union with the holy ones in heaven and our connection with the souls in purgatory. Indulgences are a part of the Church’s life and I would encourage every member of the Church to pursue them.” 

He added, “We all sin, and we all have the temporal punishment of our sins. Confession wipes away our sins, but penance is still needed to heal the consequences of our sins on our souls. One of the ways we heal our souls is through indulgences.” 

Father Kirby gave this reminder, too: “There’s nothing magical about indulgences. They are a gift to us from the Lord Jesus and his saints. They are a blessing to us who are still in the battle for holiness. Indulgences only have power because of the work of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus is the one who absolves sin and he is the one who heals the consequences of our sin. Indulgences are not superstitious practices, but lie at the very heart of our communion with one another in Jesus Christ.”

And there are further benefits for us as well.

Referring to the Catechism (958), Tassone said “whoever relieves and releases a soul from purgatory will gain powerful intercessors to help us avoid purgatory, guide us now in this life and will find these souls surrounding our deathbed. You want these friends in your corner.” 

“Indulge on indulgences for your family, friends, and those who were entwined in the fabric of your lives,” she counseled. “By delivering them from their intense pains of the loss of the sight of God, by hastening their entrance into heaven, we draw to ourselves the gratitude of all paradise and forge bonds of friendship here and in eternity.” 

“It’s from all of us that the holy souls in purgatory expect relief and help to end their sufferings,” she explained. “We are their only resource. We alone are their deliverers; for we alone can apply our indulgences and release them. Heaven encourages them; we deliver them.” Include children in obtaining the Jubilee indulgence, she advised, emphasizing the eternal benefits for souls and saying she “can’t imagine the joy of a holy soul receiving this Jubilee indulgence. What a splendid sight: Members of the Church Militant hold out their hands to the Church Suffering to enjoin them with the Church Triumphant.”