Pandemic decree (2020)
COVID-19 emergency grant for intercessory prayer
A special pandemic concession; do not treat it as a verified permanent Chaplet grant.
Time required Unverified emergency grant: Scripture reading requires at least 30 minutes; other alternatives differ.
- When
- Pandemic-dependent; no fixed closing date stated
- Where
- Worldwide
- Who
- All eligible faithful
- Application
- Self or the departed
The prescribed work
- Offer a Eucharistic visit or adoration, half-hour Scripture reading, Rosary, Stations or Divine Mercy Chaplet.
- Pray for the epidemic’s end, relief for sufferers and eternal salvation for the dead.
- Observe the decree’s dispositions and deferred-condition provision; current applicability requires confirmation.
The work and its conditions
A plenary indulgence also requires complete detachment from every sin, sacramental confession, Holy Communion, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions, subject to the grant’s stated exceptions. The ordinary limit is one plenary indulgence per day.
Conditions common to every indulgence
The person gaining an indulgence must be baptized, not excommunicated, and in the state of grace at least when the prescribed works are completed. There must be at least a general intention to gain indulgences, and the prescribed work must be performed at the time and in the manner required by the grant.
Read the full conditions and norms. The cited grant and its specific provisions govern.
Time required
Read each branch with its own conditions. An editorial estimate is not a prescribed minimum.
Scripture reading
Prescribed minimum
At least 30 minutes.
Prescribed minimum: 30 minutes.
The half-hour requirement belongs to Scripture reading. The decree does not impose it on every other alternative. Current applicability of this emergency grant is unverified.
Eucharistic visit or adoration
Duration varies
Variable; no fixed number of minutes is prescribed.
No fixed minimum number of minutes is stated. The emergency decree gives no numeric duration for this alternative; do not import the ordinary half-hour adoration grant into this distinct concession.
Rosary
Editorial estimate
About 15–30 minutes (editorial estimate).
No fixed minimum number of minutes is stated. Editorial estimate for five decades prayed devoutly; this is not a numeric minimum in the emergency decree.
Stations of the Cross
Duration varies
Variable; no fixed number of minutes is prescribed.
No fixed minimum number of minutes is stated. Duration depends on the approved devotion and its meditations; no number of minutes is specified here.
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Editorial estimate
About 10–15 minutes (editorial estimate).
No fixed minimum number of minutes is stated. Editorial estimate for a spoken Chaplet; the decree sets no numeric minimum. Current applicability is unverified.
What the time estimate excludes
- Ordinary travel to and from the venue, and waiting outside the prescribed work
- Separate confession, Communion and prayer for the Pope’s intentions, except where a branch expressly includes the prescribed celebration
- Stated start
- 19 March 2020
Occasion and source notes
The 19 March 2020 decree was reread on 27 October 2026. It states no fixed closing date, but frames these special concessions in the circumstances of the current epidemic. A competent clarification establishing their present application was not located. This review status is neither a declaration of revocation nor a permanent universal extension. Ordinary indulgenced works remain available under their own grants and conditions.
Prayer texts and resources
Follow the prayer count and formula specified in the requirements.
Source and exact reference
Prayer texts and grants have separate source histories. Consult the grant source for the prescribed work, occasion, and conditions.