” “The sacrament of Confession, the Holy Communion and praying according to the Pope’s intentions as well as a "soul detached from any sin" are the requirements set forth by the Decree, which has been announced today by the Apostolic Penitentiary, to obtain "special indulgences" on the XIV World Day of the Sick, which falls on February 11th (main celebration in the Cathedral of San Francesco Saverio in Adelaide, Australia). The document, signed by card. James Francis Stafford, Grand Penitentiary, highlights that it was the Pope who wanted such special indulgences, "driven by a lively wish that abundant spiritual fruit may be borne by man’s illnesses and pains, endured with resignation and offered to the Eternal Father". As well such an objective aspect, card. Stafford highlights that Benedict XVI also wishes that this gesture may produce "works and initiatives of Christian mercy and social solidarity to the benefit of the sick", in particular those with "mental deficiencies". There are two types of indulgences: the "plenary" indulgence, which "remits in front of God the temporal punishment for one’s sins which are already remitted as to the wrong"; while the "partial" indulgence frees one just of a part of the temporal punishment for one’s sins. The latter can be obtained reads the Decree "every time, with a penitent heart, a believer addresses devout prayers to God the Merciful, to beg for such results to the benefit of the sick".” “
