Pope Francis on Tuesday directed priests across the world to grant forgiveness to women who have had abortions.
The pontiff said the women should be granted absolution during the Jubilee year of Mercy which starts on December, 8.
The gravity of abortion, according to the
church, is likened to attacking a bishop or desecrating the Eucharist.
Tuesday’s announcement, however, did not change the belief but sought to
relieve affected women of the burden for the specific period of the
Jubilee year – December 8, 2015, to November 20, 2016.
According to CBS News, the decree was contained in a letter Pope sent to the head of Jubilee initiatives, Archibishop Rino Fisichella.
It
read, “I think in particular of all the women who have resorted to
abortion. I am well aware of the pressure that has led them to this
decision. I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal.
“I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonising and painful decision.”
The President of the Patristic Institute
Augustinianum in Rome, Fr. Robert Dodaro, commended the development,
describing Francis as being compassionate.
He said, “I think this is big and very
positive news. Pope Francis is showing enormous compassion for people in
difficult situations. He has always been very strong on the sacrament
of penance, and he continues to develop what has been a strong theme in
his papacy, which is that God is always ready to forgive, and we should
not place obstacles in the way.”
CBS News reports that reserved
sins carry automatic excommunication, which means that the person is
banned from all Catholic sacraments, including the sacrament of penance
(confession).
Church law says that when a woman has an
abortion she and all those who aided her, including doctors, nurses and
spouses, are automatically excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
If a woman (or an accomplice) confesses
the abortion, an ordinary priest is not allowed to grant absolution, but
has to ask the local bishop for permission.
In May, the Vatican took the first step
in this direction, announcing the creation of a special team of priests
for the Jubilee called “missionaries of mercy,” who would be granted the
faculty to absolve the sin of abortion. But Tuesday’s announcement goes
further, making the absolution universally available.
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