Please read this carefully, and try to understand:
It is *God* who judges our souls at death, as He alone can read our hearts and inmost thoughts and make proper judgment. The Church cannot do that. However, people, while in this present life, may gain partial or plenary indulgences which can remit the punishment for sins *previously* committed. Notice that indulgences in NO WAY are a license or permission to *commit* future sin. They only have effect on previously comitted sins which have ALSO been previously confessed.
Jesus, in giving the Apostles and their successors the power to "bind and to loose" (Matt. 16:19 and 18:18) and also in giving them the authority to forgive sins (John 20:22-23), has literally ceded over to these men His authority to do these things *in His Name*. His "whatsoever's" in Matt 16 and 18 are serious, and He meant them. He will honor their decisions in the matter of forgiveness of sins.
However, as already stated, only God is really capable of judging our hearts. If the authority to forgive sins is taken advantage of by insincere or untruthful penitents, nothing happens at all, for God knows the situation perfectly, and He will not be mocked. If a person goes through the motions of receiving an indulgence while NOT in a state of grace, *nothing* happens. God will not honor it, because the power of the keys in such instance was abused. Simon Magus had similar problems!
Most indulgences are "partial." Some are only partial by definition, many of the "plenary" (or "full") indulgences are effectively also partial because one of the requirements on the person gaining them is "freedom from the attachment to sin, even venial sin." That's pretty difficult for most of us. Alright, knowing all of the foregoing, God's role in all of this should start crystalizing for you a bit.
First, no matter how many indulgences one gained while in life, if one dies in a state of mortal sin, they have no use to him, and he *will* be damned. Remember, indulgences are no license for *any* kind of sin. God has got the ball here!
Second, if the person in question winds-up in Purgatory, those sins for which a subsequent indulgence made satisfaction do *not* figure-in to that purgation, otherwise, what would be the point to indulgences. Purgatory, for this person would be for any venial sins not confessed before death, OR mortal sins confessed but for which proper satisfaction had not been undertaken in life (including indulgences, of course), OR sins for which "partial" satisfaction was made by indulgenced works or other acts of atonement subsequent to their confession. In all of these cases, God is not dispensed with, however, as irrelevant to the "process,' as if the Church can "ship people to heaven" as you suggest. He alone can assess the "attachment to sin" criterion, for starters. God still makes the assessment as to how "partial" or "plenary" the indulgences really are in the specific circumstances of each person who has gained them.
Third, if the person winds-up immediately in Heaven, it may very well be possible that the difference here was due to some of his sins' temporal punishment already having been removed by indulgenced works. In any case, for a person to "take the express" to Heaven, he would still have to be not only in a state of grace at death (that's a given), but also in a state of perfect detachment from sin and commensurate, selfless love of God. That state of affairs as an end-result of a soul's earthly travail is likely a fairly rare thing, with or without indulgences.
Understand, too, that indulgences are not something *required* of Catholics to seek and gain. Many never avail themselves of this even once. That's a pity. Their road to salvation is restricted to their repentance and confession of sins. God has condescended to share His power to forgive sins to mere men, who act as His representatives. Some certainly, and with good effect (obviously!), take advantage of this, yet neglect a second aspect: He also has entrusted the custodianship of the ability to remit sins to the Church, which holds indulgences out to men that they may take them, while leaving the "details" of their application to God, who *alone* can read true inner dispositions.
OOPS! Last sentence: "...remit sins to the Church..." should read "...remit the temporal punishement due to sins to the Church..."
Sorry...long day!
Greetings in Christ...you seem to be very knowledgable so I'd like to ask you a question(s) in a respectful manner:
When was the first indulgence granted and by whom?
What, if any, textual writings by any Apostle exists proclaiming indulgences?
What early Church Fathers discussed indulgences?
Thank you in advance for sharing your knowledge with me.
God's Blessings to you.