Yes, the Church misused indulgences back in medieval times, but that doesn’t mean that indulgences are bad. Let’s start with a definition: According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment due sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned, which the follower of Christ with the proper dispositions and under certain determined conditions acquires through the intervention of the Church which, as minister of the Redemption, authoritatively dispenses and applies the treasury of the satisfaction won by Christ and the saints.” (CCC No. 1471)

The above definition puts to rest four common misconceptions about indulgences, namely:

that indulgences forgive the guilt of sins (they don’t)

that indulgences are guarantees of Heaven (they aren’t)

that indulgences are effortless (they aren’t)

that indulgences can be “banked” against future sins (they can’t)

A plenary indulgence dispenses all temporal punishments of a sin, while a partial indulgence does as its name suggests.

As examples, the Manual of Indulgences (pp 41, 153-154) says that plenary indulgences include the following:

Adoring the Blessed Sacrament for at least 30 minutes

Praying the Rosary, either privately with family, or publicly in a church with several others

Devout reading (or listening) to Sacred Scripture for at least 30 minutes

Making the Way of the Cross

Note: You can gain an indulgence for yourself or for a soul in Purgatory