The Church's teaching on indulgences reminds of the effects of sin and of the ways in which God reaches out to us in mercy.

The Compendium of the Catechism teaches: Indulgences are the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. The faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains the indulgence under prescribed conditions for either himself or the departed. Indulgences are granted through the ministry of the Church which, as the dispenser of the grace of redemption, distributes the treasury of the merits of Christ and the Saints.

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, 

• who are purified through the Sacrament of Penance and refreshed by Holy Communion,

• who pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff

will be able to obtain from the treasury of the Church a plenary indulgence, with remission and forgiveness of all their sins. The indulgence may be applied in suffrage to the souls in Purgatory.

The indulgence is not an alternative to the Sacrament of Penance but rather frees the individual from the temporal punishment (in purgatory)  that is due to sins that have been forgiven already. 

The faithful, pilgrims of hope, will be able to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence granted by the Holy Father if they undertake a pious pilgrimage:

to any sacred Jubilee site: by devoutly participating in Holy Mass; a celebration of the Word of God; the Liturgy of the Hours; the Via Crucis; the Marian Rosary;  a penitential celebration, which ends with the individual confessions of the penitents, as established in the Rite of Penance (form II);

in Rome: by visiting at least one of the four Major Papal Basilicas: St. Peter’s in the Vatican, the Archbasilica of the Holy Saviour (St John Lateran’s), Saint Mary Major’s, and St. Paul’s Outside the Walls;

in the Holy Land: by visiting at least one of the three basilicas: the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, or the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth;

in other ecclesiastical areas: by visiting the Cathedral or other church or sacred place designated by the local Ordinary.

The faithful can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if, individually or in a group, they devoutly visit any Jubilee site and there, for a suitable period of time, engage in Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith , and invocations to Mary, the Mother of God, so that in this Holy Year everyone "will come to know the closeness of Mary, the most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons her children" (Spes non confundit, 24).

The following sacred places may also be visited under the same conditions:

in Rome: the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, the Basilica of St Lawrence at the Verano, the Basilica of St Sebastian, the Sanctuary of Divine Love (the ‘Divino Amore’), the Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia, the Church of St Paul at the Tre Fontane, (the site of the Martyrdom of the Apostle), the Roman Catacombs; 

the churches of the Jubilee Pathways 

in other places in the world: the two Minor Papal Basilicas in Assisi – those of St Francis and Our Lady of the Angels; the Pontifical Basilicas of Our Lady of Loreto, Our Lady of Pompeii, and St Anthony in Padua; any minor basilica, cathedral church, co-cathedral church, Marian sanctuary,  and national or international sanctuaries.

The faithful will be able to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if, with a devout spirit, they:

• participate in popular missions, 

• spiritual exercises (retreats)

• formation activities on the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, according to the mind of the Holy Father.

In a special way "during the Holy Year, we are called to be tangible signs of hope for those of our brothers and sisters who experience hardships of any kind"  Therefore, the Indulgence is also linked to certain works of mercy and penance, which bear witness to the conversion undertaken. 

The faithful, following the example and mandate of Christ, are encouraged to carry out works of charity or mercy more frequently, especially in the service of those brothers and sisters who are burdened by various needs. 

More especially, they should rediscover these “corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead "  and rediscover also "the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill, and pray for the living and the dead" .

In this way, the faithful will be able to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence 

• if they visit, 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 (cf. Mt 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 Jubilee Plenary Indulgence can also be obtained through initiatives that put into practice, in a concrete and generous way, the spirit of penance which is, in a sense, the soul of the Jubilee. 

In particular 

• the penitential nature of Friday can be rediscovered 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 practising abstinence according to the general norms of the Church), 

• 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 defence 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 from various countries “who leave their homelands behind in search of a better life for themselves and for their families”  

• it can also be obtained by dedicating a reasonable portion of one’s free time to voluntary activities that are of service to the community or to other similar forms of personal commitment.

The faithful who cannot participate in the various solemn celebrations, pilgrimages and pious visits for serious reasons ( the elderly, the sick, prisoners, and those who, through their work in hospitals or other care facilities, provide continuous service to the sick), can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence, under the same conditions if, united in spirit with the faithful taking part in person, (especially when the words of the Supreme Pontiff or the diocesan Bishop are transmitted through the various means of communication),

they recite the Our Father, the Profession of Faith , and other prayers in conformity with the objectives of the Holy Year,

in their homes or wherever they are confined (e.g. hospital, nursing home, prison...) offering up their sufferings or the hardships of their lives