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Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary on the
granting of special Indulgences to the faithful
in the current pandemic, 20.03.2020
The gift of special Indulgences is granted to
the faithful suffering from COVID-19 disease,
commonly known as Coronavirus, as well as to
health care workers, family members and all
those who in any capacity, including through
prayer, care for them.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,
faithful in prayer” (Rom 12: 12). The words
written by Saint Paul to the Church of Rome
resonate throughout the entire history of the
Church and guide the judgment of the faithful in
the face of all suffering, sickness and
calamity.
The present moment in which the whole of
humanity, threatened by an invisible and
insidious disease, which for some time now has
become part of all our lives, is marked day
after day by anguished fears, new uncertainties
and above all widespread physical and moral
suffering.
The Church, following the example of her Divine
Master, has always had the care of the sick at
heart. As Saint John Paul II points out, the
value of human suffering is twofold: “It is
supernatural because it is rooted in the divine
mystery of the Redemption of the world, and it
is likewise deeply human, because in it the
person discovers himself, his own humanity, his
own dignity, his own mission” (Apostolic Letter
Salvifici Doloris, 31).
Pope Francis, too, in these recent days, has
shown his paternal closeness and renewed his
invitation to pray incessantly for those who are
sick with the Coronavirus.
So that all those who suffer because of
COVID-19, precisely in the mystery of this
suffering, may rediscover “the same redemptive
suffering of Christ” (ibid., 30), this Apostolic
Penitentiary, ex auctoritate Summi Pontificis,
trusting in the word of Christ the Lord and
considering with a spirit of faith the epidemic
currently underway, to be lived in a spirit of
personal conversion, grants the gift of
Indulgences in accordance with the following
disposition.
The Plenary Indulgence is granted to the
faithful suffering from Coronavirus, who are
subject to quarantine by order of the health
authority in hospitals or in their own homes if,
with a spirit detached from any sin, they unite
spiritually through the media to the celebration
of Holy Mass, the recitation of the Holy Rosary,
to the pious practice of the Way of the Cross or
other forms of devotion, or if at least they
will recite the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and a
pious invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary,
offering this trial in a spirit of faith in God
and charity towards their brothers and sisters,
with the will to fulfil the usual conditions
(sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion
and prayer according to the Holy Father's
intentions), as soon as possible.
Health care workers, family members and all
those who, following the example of the Good
Samaritan, exposing themselves to the risk of
contagion, care for the sick of Coronavirus
according to the words of the divine Redeemer:
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down
one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15: 13), will
obtain the same gift of the Plenary Indulgence
under the same conditions.
This Apostolic Penitentiary also willingly
grants a Plenary Indulgence under the same
conditions on the occasion of the current world
epidemic, also to those faithful who offer a
visit to the Blessed Sacrament, or Eucharistic
adoration, or reading the Holy Scriptures for at
least half an hour, or the recitation of the
Holy Rosary, or the pious exercise of the Way of
the Cross, or the recitation of the Chaplet of
Divine Mercy, to implore from Almighty God the
end of the epidemic, relief for those who are
afflicted and eternal salvation for those whom
the Lord has called to Himself.
The Church prays for those who find themselves
unable to receive the Sacrament of the Anointing
of the Sick and of the Viaticum, entrusting each
and every one to divine Mercy by virtue of the
communion of saints and granting the faithful a
Plenary Indulgence on the point of death,
provided that they are duly disposed and have
recited a few prayers during their lifetime (in
this case the Church makes up for the three
usual conditions required). For the attainment
of this indulgence the use of the crucifix or
the cross is recommended (cf. Enchiridion
indulgentiarum, no.12).
May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and
of the Church, Health of the Sick and Help of
Christians, our Advocate, help suffering
humanity, saving us from the evil of this
pandemic and obtaining for us every good
necessary for our salvation and sanctification.
The present Decree is valid notwithstanding any
provision to the contrary.
Given in Rome, from the seat of the Apostolic
Penitentiary, on 19 March 2020.
Mauro Cardinal Piacenza
Major Penitentiary
Krzysztof Nykiel
Regent
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