According to a report by CNN, Pope Francis has extended the power of Catholic priests to forgive abortions, indefinitely. The pontiff made the announcement through an apostolic letter released on November 21, 2016.
The latest development follows another Church mandate, which gave priests the power to “absolve the sin of abortion”, established during the “Year of Mercy”, which ended on November 20, 2016.
Despite this emphasis on how God and the church’s forgiveness and mercy covers all types of transgressions, the Church still maintains their view of abortion as a “grave sin”.
But this development makes it easier for women who have had abortions to be absolved and be welcomed back into the Church.
“I can and must state that there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with the Father…”
photo: Wikipedia
“I wish to restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life,” stated the Pope in his letter. “In the same way, however, I can and must state that there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with the Father,” he wrote.
“May every priest, therefore, be a guide, support and comfort to penitents on this journey of special reconciliation…”
“May every priest, therefore, be a guide, support and comfort to penitents on this journey of special reconciliation,” continues the Pope in his letter. “I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have committed the sin of procured abortion.”
Dating back to its early years, abortion has been viewed by the Church as a “moral evil”, maintaining the belief that the moment from “conception until death is sacred”. CNN further cited former Pope John Paul II’s view on the issue as simply “murder”.
“In the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis extended that permission to all priests for a year. Today he extended it indefinitely,” Jesuit Priest and Editor at America magazine Rev. James Martin told CNN. “It’s another gesture of mercy and welcome from a Pope whose hallmarks are mercy and welcome.”
Before the “Year of Mercy” started in December 2015, the Pope already revealed the Church’s stand on the matter.
“The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented,” the Pope said, recounting the women he’s met who have gone through the “agonizing and painful” process of abortions.
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