Pope Francis extended to all Roman Catholic Priests the powers to forgive abortion in an "apostolic letter" released Monday. He announced the document in last Sunday's closing ceremony of the "Holy Year of Mercy."
This power was previously allowed only for bishops and special confessors, Reuters reported. Pope Francis, who has a more open-minded and forgiving papacy, said abortion is a grave sin as it means killing an innocent life. But he continued to say that God's mercy is all reaching and can wipe away any sin from a repentant heart.
During the announcement of the "apostolic letter," he said that priests should be guides and a source of comfort for penitents who are on this journey of reconciliation.
Abortion is considered a grave "moral evil" by the Catholic Church for a very long time, CNN reported. It is a sensitive issue that is condemned by many pro-life groups. But he altered this tradition by announcing last year that he will authorize priests all over the world with the power to forgive abortion.
The Pope granted a temporary power for priests to give "sacramental absolution" for the sin of abortion for the Holy Year of Mercy, which is from December 8, 2015 to November 20 of this year. His new announcement Monday extends this temporary power. This could mean that the power of absolving abortion among priests will be extend for the duration of his papacy.
Abortion is a grave sin that could mean automatic excommunication for those who have committed it. Some bishops in Britain and the United States has delegated this power to priests even before the announcement. However, most of the priests in the rest of the world still follow the old practice.
According to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who manages the activities for the Holy Year, this new rule in forgiving is applicable for all Roman Catholics who are involved in abortion. This includes the medical staff who administered the abortion, as well as the mothers who went through it. This means that absolution from a priest also means lifting of the excommunication.
Fischella, however, said that this doesn't mean that abortion is lowered to the level among lesser sins.
