indult

American  

[in-duhlt] / ɪnˈdʌlt /

noun

Roman Catholic Church.

1. a dispensation granted often temporarily by the pope, permitting a deviation from church law.

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indult British  

/ ɪnˈdʌlt /

noun

1. RC Church a faculty granted by the Holy See allowing a specific deviation from the Church's common law

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Etymology

Origin of indult

1525–35; < Medieval Latin indultum noun use of neuter of indultus, past participle of indulgēre to indulge

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

indult

On procedure, the U.S. operates under a temporary dispensation called an indult.

From Time Magazine Archive

The indult was granted by Pope Paul VI in 1969 as an experiment, because the American hierarchy requested help on its huge backlog of cases.

From Time Magazine Archive

Under the U.S. indult, which will remain in force until the new code goes into effect, perhaps by 1983, annulments are handled by a local church tribunal.

From Time Magazine Archive

The bishop of Sugbú came to govern it, by indult of his Holiness, with which he has governed twice at Manila.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 24 of 55 1630-34 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, As Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Robertson, James Alexander

The abbey had been so impoverished by war that the Abbot begged for a papal indult permitting him to stand godfather to forty children of noble or wealthy families.”

From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen