The recipe for an indulgence includes praying for the pope's intentions. I get the impression from their comments that some Pillar readers are not fully supportive (to put it fairly mildly) of the current pope's intentions. Does this disqualify them from obtaining the indulgences on offer?
The recipe for an indulgence includes praying for the pope's intentions. I get the impression from their comments that some Pillar readers are not fully supportive (to put it fairly mildly) of the current pope's intentions. Does this disqualify them from obtaining the indulgences on offer?
Anyone can pray "for the Pope's intentions, insofar as his intentions are in conformity with God's will." A Catholic isn't obliged to be on board with every prudential or governmental decision a Pope makes, or even his pastoral priorities.
These are usually pretty agreeable, even if a little awkwardly worded sometimes. The one for March, for example, is "For families in crisis: Let us pray that broken families might discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering each other's gifts, even in their differences."
There are also four intentions that are always "the Holy Father's intentions", even if there were no monthly intentions or during times when the seat is vacant (such as when a Pope passes away). From the Raccolta (old skool indulgence manual):
23. The PopeтАЩs intention always includes the following objects:
i. The progress of the Faith and triumph of the Church.
ii. Peace and union among Christian Princes and Rulers.
This was addressed some years ago in an excellent article by Patrick Hawkins. As someone who regularly does indulgence practice, I bookmarked the article so I could show it to people asking the exact question you raised.
The recipe for an indulgence includes praying for the pope's intentions. I get the impression from their comments that some Pillar readers are not fully supportive (to put it fairly mildly) of the current pope's intentions. Does this disqualify them from obtaining the indulgences on offer?
Anyone can pray "for the Pope's intentions, insofar as his intentions are in conformity with God's will." A Catholic isn't obliged to be on board with every prudential or governmental decision a Pope makes, or even his pastoral priorities.
In addition to Fr. Jedidiah's comment, "The pope's intentions" can be taken to mean the literal list of monthly papal prayer intentions, available here: https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2025
These are usually pretty agreeable, even if a little awkwardly worded sometimes. The one for March, for example, is "For families in crisis: Let us pray that broken families might discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering each other's gifts, even in their differences."
There are also four intentions that are always "the Holy Father's intentions", even if there were no monthly intentions or during times when the seat is vacant (such as when a Pope passes away). From the Raccolta (old skool indulgence manual):
23. The PopeтАЩs intention always includes the following objects:
i. The progress of the Faith and triumph of the Church.
ii. Peace and union among Christian Princes and Rulers.
iii. The conversion of sinners.
iv. The uprooting of heresy.
This was addressed some years ago in an excellent article by Patrick Hawkins. As someone who regularly does indulgence practice, I bookmarked the article so I could show it to people asking the exact question you raised.
https://onepeterfive.com/pray-pray-intentions-holy-father/
Many thanks to you and the two other authors of the replies above for your very clear answers.