Apostolic Penitentiary, 9 January 1998, Protocol 2/98/I
Caravaca: specified feast days, annual visit or group pilgrimage
Visit the Vera Cruz sanctuary on its appointed occasions and join a sacred rite or pray the Our Father and Creed. This perpetual grant also operates outside jubilee years.
Time required Prayer visit on a feast or annual chosen day: about 2–5 minutes; a sacred rite or whole group pilgrimage has variable length. No fixed minimum.
- When
- 3 May and 14 September; one personally chosen day each year; whenever a devotional group pilgrimage is made
- Where
- Basilica-Sanctuary of the Santísima y Vera Cruz, Caravaca de la Cruz, Murcia, Spain
- Who
- All eligible faithful
- Application
- Self or the departed
The prescribed work
- Visit on 3 May or 14 September, or once annually on a personally chosen day, or take part in a devout group pilgrimage to the sanctuary.
- In the sanctuary, devoutly participate in a sacred rite, or at least recite both the Our Father and Creed.
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.
Feast-day or annual chosen-day visit with prayers
Editorial estimate
About 2–5 minutes for the visit and prayers
No fixed minute minimum is prescribed. This editorial estimate covers a brief devout visit and both required prayers; it does not estimate a complete group pilgrimage.
Feast-day or annual chosen-day visit with sacred rite
Complete the prescribed event
Length of the sacred rite
No fixed minute minimum is prescribed. Participate in the actual sacred rite.
Group-pilgrimage alternative
Duration varies
Length of the group pilgrimage and its prescribed visit
No fixed minute minimum is prescribed. Include the required group-pilgrimage activity and its sacred rite or prayers; itinerary and pace vary.
What the time estimate excludes
- Ordinary travel to and from the venue, and waiting outside the prescribed work
- Preparation and the ordinary plenary conditions unless part of the prescribed work
- Stated start
- 9 January 1998
Occasion and source notes
Follow any lawful local transfer of the named liturgical celebration. The pilgrimage alternative requires an actual group pilgrimage. For the individually dated church visit, Norm 14 permits the visit from noon on the preceding day until midnight ending the observance. Follow the local calendar and access hours. The required pilgrimage, prayers, eligibility and frequency limits remain in force; attending an actual rite is still necessary if that is the chosen alternative.
The original Latin facsimile expressly requires the Our Father and Creed in the prayer alternative; some adjacent tourism translations incorrectly render this as “or.” Sacred-rite participation is an alternative to those prayers. The 1998 rescript is expressly perpetual, and the diocese confirms the ordinary occasions remain distinct from the seven-year jubilee celebrations.
Prayer texts and resources
Follow the prayer count and formula specified in the requirements. The two Creed readers are alternatives.
Source and exact reference
- Apostolic Penitentiary — Caravaca rescript, 9 January 1998PDF page 5, original Latin facsimile, Protocol 2/98/I; original Latin governs the adjacent translation
- Diocese of Cartagena — the Caravaca grant and its recurring jubilee7 January 2024, description of the 1998 Apostolic Penitentiary rescript and its distinct ordinary and jubilee occasions
- Vera Cruz Confraternity — current pilgrim directionsHow to gain the plenary indulgence; availability outside the Holy Year
- Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, fourth editionNorms 13–14 and 17–19: transfer, dated visit window, prescribed work and frequency
Prayer texts and grants have separate source histories. Consult the grant source for the prescribed work, occasion, and conditions.