Pardon me: What is a plenary indulgence?

    The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines an indulgence as “a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven” [1471].

    When we celebrate the sacrament of penance, our sins are forgiven, our communion with God is restored and the eternal punishment for our sins is removed.
    Yet the temporal punishment caused by sin – the hurt we have caused to ourselves and to others – remains.