Trips to Lourdes to Cut Time Spent in Purgatory

telegraph.co.uk ^ | 3:16am GMT 06/12/2007 | staff

[kellynla]

Pope Benedict XVI is offering relief from purgatory to Roman Catholics who travel to Lourdes over the next year, the Vatican said yesterday.

Pilgrims to the shrine in south-west France will receive "plenary indulgences" from the Pontiff, which the Church says reduce the time spent being "washed" of sin after death. The indulgences will be available from this weekend until Dec 8, 2008.

The Church teaches that people who do not go directly to heaven must spend time in purgatory, where they can be purified of residual sin.

It is the latest initiative to get more pilgrims to the shrine, famous for the reported healing properties of its water. In August the Vatican opened an airline service offering pilgrims direct flights from Rome to Lourdes.

For those who cannot make the journey to France, the Pope will also grant indulgences to Catholics who pray at places of worship dedicated to the Madonna of Lourdes from Feb 2 to Feb 11. Indulgences may also be granted under special circumstances to people too sick to visit the shrine, the Vatican said.

The offer comes as the shrine prepares to commemorate the 150th anniversary of when the Madonna was said to have appeared to a peasant girl in 1858.

The Pope is expected to visit next year, possibly in September or October.

[irishtenor]

***The offer comes as the shrine prepares to commemorate the 150th anniversary of when the Madonna was said to have appeared to a peasant girl in 1858.***

I thought she was in her mid 40’s living in England.

[magisterium]

You're right. The Telegraph isn't actually a tabloid. I was thinking more of The Sun: real low-brow stuff, complete with the Page 3 girls. Well, from what I've seen of Telegraph articles linked by Drudge recently, most of The Telegraph's stuff filtering over to this side of the pond still reeks of Robin Leach's Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. The Brits seem to have a penchant for becoming absorbed with anything vapid and ephemeral, with the trials and tribs of the idle rich, the (generally) minimally talented entertainment celebrities, the rest of the undeservedly famous, and other people and things the Really Don't Matter. When all of this is done under an umbrella of near-universal agnosticism, it is a recipe for disaster. Even when they try to report on something a little more uplifting, their long-term unfamiliarity with Christendom really shows through, as this article demonstrates. And that circumstance, unfortunately, tends to run all through their press, from The Times down to the most plebeian rag that wouldn't be fit to line a bird cage.

[marshmallow]

Correct.

Then factor in television where religion is almost universally ridiculed. British programs, whether comedy or drama, are almost unanimous in their portrayal of clergy as hopelessly naive buffoons, sometimes well intentioned, but almost always dolts of the first order. The only favorable portrayals are reserved for those who have shed the yoke of traditional Christianity, such as The Vicar of Dibley.

[RobbyS]

The writer understands as much about Catholic theology as I do about playing ice hockey.

[Salvation]

The reporter gets this all worded wrong. Nutzos

[Salvation]

**the media reasserts its idiocy.**

You got it right!

[Salvation]

Since there are two threads ongoing about indulgences -- here is another one.

[What Every Catholic Needs to Know about] Gaining Indulgences [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]

[bonfire]

Are indulgences something like “energy credits”? :)

[Gamecock]

I thought she was in her mid 40’s living in England.

I drove by her estate in England a couple of years ago. You really have to go out of your way to get there.

[kevinw]

Amen. Purgatory is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. The idea of purgatory is one of the traditions of men.

[WileyPink]

Trips to Lourdes to Cut Time Spent in Purgatory

One trip to the blood stained cross of Christ will eliminate time any where in eternity except with the Lord! If you don't make that trip...you'll spend eternity in a literal hell. (No tea and cookies...by the way!)

I hope nobody really believes this non-sense, do they? Sounds like something from the golden compass.

[WileyPink]

The souls in purgatory are completely, perfectly, and constantly assured of their own salvation.

What is your Scriptural basis for this statement? Statements based on ANY thing other than Scripture is based on man, not of God...Therefore if it's based on man, it's based on the flesh, therefore it's based on Satan!

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

bump for later read.