Pope Francis on Monday Nov 21,2016 extended indefinitely to all Roman Catholic priests the power to forgive abortion, a right previously reserved for bishops or special confessors.
Pope Francis who has made a more inclusive and forgiving Roman CatholicChurch a characteristic of his papacy, made the announcement in a document known as an “apostolic letter” after Sunday’s close of the Church’s “Holy Year of Mercy”.
He said he wanted to “restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life” but “there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with (God)”.Francis had already temporarily granted the power to all priests to give what is known as “sacramental absolution” forabortionduring the Holy Year, from Dec. 8 to Nov. 20, but the solemn tone of his words in Monday’s letter suggested that change would last for at least the rest of his papacy
“I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have committed the sin of procured abortion. The provision I had made in this regard, limited to the duration of the Extraordinary Holy Year, is hereby extended ...,” he said.
In Roman Catholic teaching, abortion is such a serious sin that those who procure or perform it incur an automatic excommunication, until it is absolved in confession.
In the past, only a bishop or a designated chief confessor of a diocese could grant absolution for an abortion.
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