Pope Clement VI issues the papal bull Unigenitus, laying out the scriptural justification for indulgences, identifying only the Pope and episcopate as capable of accessing the treasury of merit, and establishing a jubilee year every half century.

Pope Clement VI

Head of the Catholic Church from 1342 to 1352

Pope Clement VI, born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death, in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Black Death (1348–1350), during which he granted remission of sins to all who…

Papal bull

Type of decree by the Catholic pope

A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal (bulla) traditionally appended to authenticate it.

Unigenitus (1343)

Unigenitus is a papal bull promulgated by Pope Clement VI on January 27, 1343. It designated the year 1350 as a year of Jubilee and set the tradition for a Jubilee to be held every fifty years.

Indulgence

Remission of sins in the Catholic Church

In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt…

Treasury of merit

Roman Catholic theological concept

The treasury of all merit or treasury of the Church consists, according to Catholic belief, of the merits of Jesus Christ and his faithful, a treasury that because of the communion of saints benefits others, too. According to the Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, this…

Jubilee in the Catholic Church

Special year of remission of sins and universal pardon

A jubilee is a special year of remission of sins, debts and universal pardon. In the Book of Leviticus, a jubilee year is mentioned as occurring every 50th year during which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly…

January 27

Day of the year

January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 338 days remain until the end of the year.