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To use all the features of this site, please enable it. The Rev. Gerry Lupa celebrates Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral in Columbus. Bishops can offer indulgences to Catholics during the celebration of St. Paul, which runs through June. These indulgences allow Catholics to avoid time in purgatory, at least for sins they’ve committed up to that point. Catholicism teaches that purgatory is a place where souls are purified before going to heaven. Catholics can be forgiven for their sins but still face purgatory. It’s not a place of suffering, said Leo Madden, a professor of theology at Ohio Dominican University. He borrowed an explanation from C.S. Lewis, saying purgatory is like a “good scrub-down” to remove the muck before you can be with God. Indulgences fell out of popularity after the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, and church leaders acknowledge that many Catholics might not know what they are. The Church teaches that an indulgence may be granted when a Catholic undertakes prayer, a pilgrimage or an act of charity.
In the Columbus diocese, Catholics who attend a designated event celebrating St. Paul at one of his namesake parishes or at the Saints Peter and Paul Retreat Center receive the indulgence, said Deacon Tom Berg Jr., vice chancellor of the diocese.