Southern Nebraska Register
Bishop James Conley established eight pilgrimage sites throughout the 23,000 square miles of the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln for the Jubilee Year of Hope, for the faithful to obtain a Jubilee Indulgence.
An indulgence is “a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.” In other words, while sacramental confession forgives sins, an indulgence removes, as the bishop wrote, the “stain of sin.”
Plenary indulgences require the faithful to have no attachment in their hearts to sin, even to venial sins. However, should total detachment to sin not be attainable, the bishop pointed out that the Church still provides a partial indulgence to her children who are working toward holiness but are still attached, in some capacity, to their sinful inclinations.
The normal conditions to receive an indulgence are to make a sacramental confession 20 days before or after the indulgenced activity, (one confession can count for many indulgences); the reception of Holy Communion; and prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father, such as an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be.
A plenary indulgence may be obtained once a day, and may be applied to the person making the pilgrimage, or to a deceased person—such as the Poor Souls in Purgatory.
The sites are:
1. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, North Platte
2. Our Lady of Fatima Shrine, Arapahoe
3. St. Mary, Orleans
4. Assumption, Dwight
5. The Cathedral of the Risen Christ, Lincoln
6. The Pink Sisters Chapel, Lincoln
7. St. Anthony, Steinauer
8. St. Benedict, Nebraska City
Editor's note, Bishop Conley has added a ninth pilgrimage site: Cor Mariae Schoenstatt Center, Crete
