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Starting from the 16th century, Orthodox Christians of the Greek Church rather extensively, although not officially in penitential practice, used "permissive letters" ( συγχωροχάρτια), in many ways similar to indulgences. The status of an official ecclesiastical document is obtained at the Council of Constantinople in 1727, the resolution of which reads: "The power of the abandonment of sins, which, if filed in writing, which the Eastern Church of Christ calls "permissive letters", and the Latin people "indulgences"... is given by Christ in the holy Church. These "permissive letters" are issued throughout the catholic (universal) Church by the four holiest patriarchs: Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem." From XIII to XVII century, it was used in Russia. Indulgences as a means of enrichment were condemned at the Council of Constantinople in 1838. Even conciliar decisions had difficulty eradicating the practice of indulgences, rooted in the people. "Permissive letters" (or indulgences) survived in Greece until the mid-20th century. [65] [66] [67] [68] See also edit

Parshall, Peter, in David Landau & Peter Parshall, The Renaissance Print, Yale, 1996, ISBN 0-300-06883-2On 31 October 1522 Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to a church door in Wittenburg, protesting at the abusive sale of indulgence to fund the building of the new basilica of St. Peter’s at the Vatican. Many Catholics assume that the practice of indulgences ceased, if not then, at least by the time of the Second Vatican Council. Yet in 1967 Bl. Pope Paul VI issued an Apostolic Constitution ‘to give greater dignity and esteem to the use of indulgences’. Norms were issued the following year. From the early church onward, bishops could reduce or dispense with the rigours of penances, but indulgences emerged in only the 11th and 12th centuries when the idea of purgatory took widespread hold and when the popes became the activist leaders of the reforming church. In their zeal, they promoted the militant reclamation of once-Christian lands—first of Iberia in the Reconquista, then of the Holy Land in the Crusades—offering “full remission of sins,” the first indulgences, as inducements to participation. Dositheos Notaras, "Ἱστορία περὶ τῶν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις πατριαρχευσάντων" [ History of the patriarchs in Jerusalem], Bucharest 1715, p. 88 That is precisely what happened in the early 16th century. In northern Germany a Dominican friar, Johann Tetzel, was credited with hawking indulgences for the dead by saying, “When a penny in the coffer rings, / A soul from Purgatory springs.” The system was finally killed by a young Augustinian friar in a neighbouring territory, Martin Luther. He was not (as is widely thought) moved originally to a critique of the system by these abuses but rather by his own terrible spiritual suffering. In any case, he drew up a devastating document, the Ninety-five Theses of October 1517. In number 82 he blew the lid off the system. Cleverly reporting the “keen criticisms of the laity,” he vitiated papal control of the Treasury of Merit by writing that the laity praying the Litany of Name of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, Blood of Jesus, Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, or All Saints

ask, for example: Why does not the pope liberate everyone from Purgatory for the sake of love (a most holy thing) and because of the supreme necessity of their souls? This would be morally the best of reasons. Meanwhile he redeems innumerable souls for money, a most perishable thing, with which to build St. Peter’s church, a very minor purpose. The prayers specifically mentioned in the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum are not of the Latin Church tradition alone, but also from the traditions of the Eastern Catholic Churches, such as the Akathistos, Paraklesis, Evening Prayer, and Prayer for the Faithful Departed (Byzantine), Prayer of Thanksgiving (Armenian), Prayer of the Shrine and the Lakhu Mara (Chaldean), Prayer of Incense and Prayer to Glorify Mary the Mother of God (Coptic), Prayer for the Remission of Sins and Prayer to Follow Christ (Ethiopian), Prayer for the Church, and Prayer of Leave-taking from the Altar (Maronite), and Intercessions for the Faithful Departed (Syrian). Pope Francis issued an indulgence to young people attending World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013. He sees the granting of indulgences as integral to the Year of Mercy. Special indulgences are also granted on occasions of particular spiritual significance such as a jubilee year [31] or the centenary or similar anniversary of an event such as the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes. [32] Apostolic Blessing edit Both partial and plenary indulgences can be granted by the diocesan bishop and that of and eparchy, by the major archbishop, metropolite and patriarch, by the cardinal, as well as by the Pope and the Apostolic Penitentiary. [25]

The Eastern Orthodox Churches believe one can be absolved from sins by the Sacred Mystery of Confession. Because of differences in the theology of salvation, indulgences for the remission of temporal punishment of sin currently do not exist in Eastern Orthodoxy, but until the twentieth century there existed in some places a practice of absolution certificates ( Greek: συγχωροχάρτια – synchorochartia) which was essentially identical to indulgences, and in many cases much more extravagant. There are four general grants of indulgence, which are meant to encourage the faithful to infuse a Christian spirit into the actions of their daily lives and to strive for perfection of charity. These indulgences are partial, and their worth therefore depends on the fervour with which the person performs the recommended actions:

Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, Normae de indulgentiis, n. 9, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 4th edition, 2004, p. 23. ISBN 88-209-2785-3. Quote: "Patriarchae in singulis locis sui patriarchatus, etsi exemptis, in ecclesiis sui ritus extra terminos patriarchatus, et ubique pro fidelibus sui ritus possunt"...a b c Lenhart, J. M. (March 1958). "Luther and Tetzel's Preaching of Indulgences, 1516—1518". Franciscan Studies. 18 (1): 82–88. doi: 10.1353/frc.1958.0010. JSTOR 41974741. S2CID 201784126. Francis Xavier Lasance. "What is an Indulgence? – Indulgenced Prayers". From With God: a book of prayers and reflections (1911). Marshall, Peter (October 2017). 1517: Martin Luther and the Invention of the Reformation. Oxford University Press. p. 30. ISBN 9780199682010. Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Dositheos Notaras (1641–1707) wrote: "It is an established custom and ancient tradition, known to all, that the Most Holy Patriarchs give the absolution certificate ( συγχωροχάρτιον – synchorochartion) to the faithful people ... they have granted them from the beginning and still do." [64] Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, Normae de indulgentiis, nn. 6-10, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 4th edition, 2004, pp. 22-23. ISBN 88-209-2785-3