pope Francis on Monday
extended indefinitely to all Roman Catholic priests the power to forgive
abortion, a right previously reserved for bishops or special confessors
in most parts of the world.
Francis,
who has made a more inclusive and forgiving Roman Catholic Church 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” for abortion during 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 bring automatic excommunication on
themselves as they are knowingly committing a sin the Church considers
grave.
In the past, only a bishop or a designated special
confessor of a diocese could grant absolution for an abortion and lift
excommunication.
Although bishops in some dioceses in developed
countries such as the United States and Britain had already delegated
this authority to parish priests, the old practice was still in effect
in most of the world.
At a news conference, Archbishop Rino
Fisichella, who oversaw Holy Year activities, said the new norms applied
to all Roman Catholics involved in an abortion, including the woman and
medical staff.
He said that the absolution granted by any priest
would also trigger the simultaneous lifting of excommunication.
Previously in many places in the world, even if the absolution was
granted by a priest, it was the bishop’s task to lift that.
Fisichella
said canon (Church) law would now have to be changed to reflect the
pope’s letter. Papal pronouncements of a pastoral or administrative
nature and which do not touch basic Church doctrine are included
automatically canon law updates.
Fisichella rejected suggestions that some people could see the move as putting abortion on the same level as lesser sins.
“There
is no type of laxness here,” he said, repeating the pope’s words that
while abortion was very grave, there was no sin that could not be
touched by God’s mercy.
In a document last year, Francis
described the “existential and moral ordeal” faced by women who have
terminated pregnancies and said he had “met so many women who bear in
their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision”.
In
the letter, the pope, the first from Latin America, also said the Church
would hold a yearly “World Day of the Poor” on a Sunday in November to
bring more attention to the world’s neediest.
From Reuters