Pope Francis is extending a temporary change in rules allowing ordinary priests to forgive women for getting an abortion.
Before December 2015, only bishops could forgive abortions or delegate that authority to priests. But as part of the Catholic Church’s “Year of Mercy,” Francis had granted regular priests the authority to absolve women for getting the forbidden procedure without having to seek permission or hand over those cases to a bishop.
The Year of Mercy ended Sunday, but Francis wrote in a letter that ordinary priests may continue to grant forgiveness for abortion on their own, while reiterating that the church still views it as a grave sin.
“I wish to restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life,” the pope wrote. “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. May every priest, therefore, be a guide, support and comfort to penitents on this journey of special reconciliation.”
The pope wrote that he was concerned with removing obstacles for women seeking “reconciliation and God’s forgiveness.”
The church had required bishops to handle absolutions for abortions because it is considered a serious sin, viewed as the taking of a human life.
