Indulgences when there is No Pope

How do you gain an indulgence when there's no Pope?

I came across this question in early May of 2025. Pope Francis has just passed away on April 21st, and it was still days away from when Pope Leo XIV would be elected. In that time, while the church was in the transition of mourning Pope Francis and electing his predecessor, someone asked this question: How do I gain indulgences since the Pope has passed?

Remember, praying for the Pope’s Intentions is a necessary condition to gain a plenary indulgence. The Pope always has continual intentions, like praying for 'The progress of the Faith and triumph of the Church,' 'Peace and union among Christian Princes and Rulers,' 'The conversion of sinners,' and 'The uprooting of heresy.' He also often has other intentions, like monthly intentions, or intentions regarding global events, etc. We do not necessarily need to know his intentions specifically when praying. We can simply pray “For the Pope’s intentions.”

But what happens when there is no Pope? Are we able to pray for the Pope’s intentions after he passes, and before a new Pope is elected?

I believe the answer to this is YES!

I have two reasoning for this yes. The first is this: You may complete the condition of praying for the Pope’s intentions within 20 days before or after a plenary indulgence work. This is similar to receiving the Eucharist; praying for the Pope/s intentions may be done some days [20 days] before or after a [plenary] indulgence work, according to Norm 20 in the book “Manuel of Indulgences.” This Norm also says it must also be done one-to-one for every plenary indulgence you try to gain. Lastly, unlike receiving the Eucharist, you may complete this condition of prayer as many times a day as you like.

So, if your primary feeling is that you can’t pray for the Pope’s intentions while the Church is in the transition of mourning and election, you could always pick up praying for the Pope’s intentions after a new Pope is elected, so long as it is within 20 days. The example in this case was that Pope Francis passed on April 21st. If someone had attempted to gain a plenary indulgence on the 22nd, they would have the opportunity to pray for the popes intentions as late May 12th. Pope Leo was elected on May 8th, so there was plenty of time for ‘makeup’ prayers. In fact, for nearly the past 100 years (that is, the past 13 Popes) the total number of days between Pope’s has not exceeded 20 days.

*regarding the chart below, the ‘days between Popes’ includes the previous Pope’s death date (meaning that he was alive at the beginning of the day) as well as the date that the new Pope was elected (meaning that he was elected pope before the end of the day). This means the ‘21’ days, like between Paul VI - Pope John Paul I, was more truly 19-20 days of complete papal absence.

The second reason I believe we can gain plenary indulgences is because, even though a Pope may pass, that doesn't mean his intentions die with him. For example, at the beginning of the year 2025, Pope Francis assigned intentions to the every month of the whole year. Even though he passed away, those monthly intentions were still presented month by month, as the late Pope had scheduled them. Remember also those continual papal intentions that remain in effect at all times. In some ways I believe these intentions are like a present, and they remain with the Church body regardless of who the Pope is (or who he isn't).

If you believe this second reason to be correct (that papal intentions remain even without the Papacy), then that would mean you could continue to gain plenary indulgences at any time. This would also offer some benefit, considering that some papal elections have been longer then 20 day. Longer then 40 days! As the chart shows, in 1800 it took over 6 months to elect a pope! The the longest conclave on record was 2 years, 9 months (from November 1268 to September 1271) to elect Pope Gregory X. But just so long as this reasoning is assumed to be correct, the length of a papal transition shouldn’t matter.

So, how should we prepare ourselves for the next occasion of papal transition?

- It may bring us comfort to remain vigilante with our Pope’s health. We should often/always be praying for the health of the Pope’s body, mind and soul, and we should often be checking in on him (if we don’t have a strong habit of doing so) so as to make sure that he is doing well. This would hopeful limit any surprises.

- It may bring us comfort to keep in mind the basics of plenary indulgence. Remember, only the conditions of the plenary work and a heart detached from sin are required to happen on THE day you are trying to gain a plenary indulgence. Confession, Communion, and Praying for the Pope’s intentions may be completed 20 days before or after THE day and they will still apply. It is also good to remember that partial indulgences don’t require prayers for the Pope’s intentions (only a work and contrite heart).

- It may bring us comfort to decide that we should add the Pope’s intentions to our daily intentions, every time we pray (as well as for the Pope himself, though that is not necessary to gain an indulgence). In this way praying “for the intentions of the Pope” becomes second nature to us so that we don’t miss out or forget to fulfill this condition. One Our Father and one Hail Mary is what Norm 20 says is needed to fully satisfy this indulgence condition. OR you may have the option of reciting any other prayer according to individual piety and devotion, which Norm 20 also allows.

- It may bring us comfort to know the Pope’s perpetual and temporary intentions. Although we certainly can pray generally for the Pope’s intentions, in praying for them specifically we remember that the Pope and the Pope’s intentions are two separate things. Not overly-separate, but separate enough to recognize that these intentions do not necessarily pass away even if our Pope does. This would especially be helpful during long transitions.

- It may bring us comfort to consider praying for the Pope’s intentions multiple times within one day; enough to cover the amount of plenary indulgences we hope to obtain within 20 days of the future, or up to 20 days in the past. Unfortunately we don’t often know when a Pope will pass from office. But, if you prayed for the Pope’s intentions more than once a day you could cover all the days you missed (in the past) or all the days you hope to gain an indulgence (in the future) in a single day. Just so long as you pray for the Pope's intentions on separate prayer-occasions, so this condition is fulfilled on a one-to-one ratio rather then in just one, long prayer session. This would especially be helpful during short transitions.

I hope this has been helpful. Indulgences can be a confusing topic so please feel free to leave your thoughts and questions. If you’re interested, I also run a Facebook Group called “Catholic Indulgence Information,” where I post daily content and I’m also a little more available to answer questions. I hope to address all I can so that we can come to know this hidden gem of the Catholic Faith.