The International Schoenstatt Center of Rome-Belmonte has received joyful news for the entire Schoenstatt Family. The Holy Father, through the Apostolic Penitentiary, has granted the grace of plenary indulgence to all pilgrims who visit the Shrine Matri Ecclesiae during the Holy Year.
The indulgence will be granted from September 6, 2024 (close to the Shrine’s 20th anniversary) until December 8, 2025, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
A special jubilee year
2025 will be a special year of pilgrimage to Rome because, in addition to the celebrations of the Holy Year of the Church, the International Schoenstatt Family will crown the Blessed Mother in the Shrine of Belmonte (more information here).
The Schoenstatt MTA will be crowned “Queen Mother of the Church” on June 9, the Monday after Pentecost, which is the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church. The event will take place within the Jubilee of the Movements in the Holy Year 2025.
What is a plenary indulgence?
The Manual of Indulgences explains that, “An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven as far as guilt is concerned, which the faithful, duly disposed and under certain and determined conditions, attain through the Church, which, as the dispenser of redemption, distributes and applies with authority the treasure of the graces of Christ and the saints” (Norm 1 of the Manual of Indulgences, 1967, approved by Pope St. Paul VI).
When a person goes to confession, he receives forgiveness for the sins he has committed, but he is not freed from the penalties – the consequences – of his sin. However, plenary indulgence, according to the doctrine, eliminates the penalties that a person would have to pay for his sins.
The rector of the Belmonte International Center, Fr. Marcelo Cervi, explains more on this topic in the interview:
What must one do to receive plenary indulgence?
The conditions for receiving the plenary indulgence at the Shrine Matri Ecclesiae (Belmonte) in Rome are, first of all, to visit the Shrine and, along with this visit, to fulfill the requirements for receiving any plenary indulgence: to go to confession (one confession is enough to obtain several indulgences), to receive Holy Communion and to pray for the intentions of the Holy Father. In addition, one must reject all attachment to sin, including venial sin.
How is the center of Belmonte preparing to welcome pilgrims in 2025? Do we already have something planned?
It will be an intense year because of the 2025 Jubilee, but also because of the Coronation of Our Lady on June 9. All the pilgrims who come to Belmonte will be able to participate in the June coronation and even experience special opportunities to deepen their understanding of the mission of the Shrine and the image of the Church proposed by Fr. Kentenich, which is in line with the new image of the Church established by the Second Vatican Council. We are planning the welcoming of pilgrims, in coordination with the Cor Ecclesiae Shrine. We would like the Schoenstatters to visit the two Shrines in Rome and to take home not only the graces, but also the messages that these Shrines convey, in order to collaborate with the renewal of the Church in the sense proposed by Vatican II.
How did the Schoenstatt Family receive the news of the indulgence and what do you wish for the Holy Year 2025?
We published the news in the July newsletter “Belmontenews” and from all over the world we received messages of joy and gratitude. In particular, the various groups that feel responsible for Belmonte thanked the Holy Father for granting us the gift of the indulgence and thus enriching our visit to the Shrine Matri Ecclesiae. For the Holy Year 2025, whose motto is “Pilgrims of Hope,” we wish every pilgrim to have the experience of being welcomed and lovingly embraced by Our Lady, yearning for what Pope Francis said in the Bull SPES NON CONFUNDIT, Proclamation of the Jubilee 2025 (n. 24):
“I encourage all pilgrims to Rome to spend time in prayer in the Marian shrines of the City, in order to venerate the Blessed Mother and to implore her protection. I am confident that everyone, especially the suffering and those most in need, will come to know the closeness of Mary, the most affectionate of mothers, who never abandons her children and who, for the holy people of God, is “a sign of certain hope and comfort”.
Translation: Maribel Acaron
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