PPope grants indulgence for Cuba's national pilgrimage

(August 13, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI has allowed plenary indulgence for participants in Cuba’s national pilgrimage of the Madonna of Charity of El Cobre. The bishops of the Caribbean island nation made the announcement in a message addressed to the faithful at the start of the pilgrimage, urging all, particularly the neediest, to take part in the pilgrimage which will stop at all the provinces, cities and villages of Cuba. The year-and-half pilgrimage that kicked off on Sunday at the shrine of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, near Santiago de Cuba, 950 kilometers east of Havana, is in commemoration in 2012 of the 400^th anniversary of the discovery of the statue. In their message the Cuban bishops recalled not only the discovery of the statue of the Madonna but also the Virgin’s constant presence through the nation’s nearly 4 centuries of painful history. It was in 1612 that a small wooden statue bearing the label, “I am the Virgin of Charity,” was found floating off the coast of El Cobre. Cuba adopted the Virgin of Charity as its patron saint in 1916. An indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment in purgatory, due for sins which have already been forgiven through confession. There are several conditions that a person seeking an indulgence must fulfil, most importantly true contrition and a total detachment from sin. The Catholic Church grants full or plenary indulgence on special occasions, such as for the Pope’s special Christmas and Easter blessings.