Pope grants plenary indulgence for participating at Ordinariate Mass on Nov. 3

On August 29, 2015, Father Thomas Kennedy (right, in red) became the first priest ordained to the Catholic priesthood at St. Mary the Virgin Parish in Arlington since it transferred into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter on July 1 of that year. He currently serves as parochial vicar of the parish. (NTC/Joan Kurkowski-Gillen)

FORT WORTH — To mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, Pope Francis has authorized a plenary indulgence for those attending an Ordinariate Mass on Sunday, Nov. 3.

Faithful Catholics can also receive the plenary indulgence any day between now and Sept. 27, 2020 if he or she makes a pious visit to the Cathedral and Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston.

Three Ordinariate congregations are located within the Diocese of Fort Worth: St. Mary the Virgin Parish in Arlington; St. John Vianney Parish in Cleburne; and St. Thomas Becket Parish in Fort Worth.

The three Ordinariate congregations in our diocese welcome all Catholics at Mass this Sunday to obtain the indulgence.

The Mass times and locations can be found at fwdioc.org/parish-finder.

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was established by Pope Benedict XVI on Nov. 4, 2009, to provide a path for Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church while retaining elements of their culture and worship tradition.

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is celebrating a jubilee year beginning this Sunday through Sept. 27, 2020, which is the feast day of the Ordinariate’s patron, Our Lady of Walsingham.

Bishop Michael Olson will concelebrate a Mass with Bishop of the Ordinariate, Steven Lopes, at St. Patrick Cathedral on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. in recognition of the anniversary of the Ordinariate.

A plenary indulgence, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1471), “is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the actions of the Church, which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints.”

The Ordinariate’s statement on the jubilee year explains the conditions for obtaining the plenary indulgence, indicating that the faithful Christian must:

• have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin;
• have sacramentally confessed his/her sins within 20 days of receiving the indulgence;
• receive the Holy Eucharist, preferably on the day receiving the indulgence;
• pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.

Editor's Note: This article was updated Nov. 6.