Indulgences are not special “tickets” that help Catholics get into heaven or stay out of hell. Indulgences do not forgive sins and the Church has never sold them.140 Instead, through sincere and specifically prescribed acts of faith and charity (like saying certain prayers or even reading the Bible), the Church applies the merits of Christ and the saints to us, so that we can be purified from the effects of sin before death instead of afterward. These merits can also be applied to souls in purgatory by praying and obtaining indulgences for them, just as we would pray for any Christian who is
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