The faithful will still have an opportunity to gain plenary indulgence until December this year.

CBCP News reported that Pope Francis has extended the opportunities for pilgrims visiting any of the more than 500 “Jubilee Churches” to gain indulgences until Dec. 31, 2022.

This is in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines.

The decree dated March 17 was issued by Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

Originally, the indulgence was limited from the start of the year-long celebration on April 4, 2021 — Easter Sunday — to April 22, 2022.

The bishops also decided during their plenary assembly last January to close the Jubilee Year on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 24.

In order to avail the indulgence, the pilgrims are required to meet the usual conditions of going to confession, receiving the Eucharist, and praying for the intentions of the pope.

They are also asked to pray “for the fidelity of the Filipino people to their Christian calling, for the increase of priestly and religious vocations and for the defense of the family, concluding with the Lord’s Prayer, the profession of faith, and an invocation to the Blessed Virgin Mary."

In a March 7 letter to the Vatican, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said that the Jubilee Year “has been marked with difficulties” posed by the health crisis.

It explained the planned “ecclesial and spiritual activities” in the dioceses were not fully carried out due to the lockdowns and quarantines imposed by the government.

With the now “more relaxed” health protocols in the country, CBCP president Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said this allowed churches to increase the capacity in Masses and other religious gatherings.

“It also gives us a greater possibility to push with our spiritual and ecclesiastical celebrations relative to the celebrations of the Jubilee Year,” David said.