"There is constant stress on the Holy Father's declaration that a partial indulgence is a 'matching grant'. The Church uses her 'power of the keys' and opens 'the treasury of the Blood'—the merits of Christ, Our Lady and the Saints, to match whatever remission of the temporal punishment due to sin results from an individual's careful, loving performance of an indulgenced work"

This, btw, is the answer to Luther's question to the effect that if the Church has the power of binding and loosing with indulgences, why doesn't the pope just issue a command and empty out purgatory? The answer, of coures, is that it doesn't work like that. People have to sacrifice to get the benefit of the indulgence.

There are, of course, monks and nuns around the world praying for the souls in purgatory every day, as well as many laity. This is the Church's contribution to their freedom.

Just goes to show you that nothing good's come out of germany since 1500.