Forgiving the sin of abortion

IN a rather extraordinary but welcome move, Pope Francis has extended to all priests worldwide the authority to absolve women for the sin of abortion during the Holy Year of Mercy which opens on December 8, 2015.  This happy development was announced on September 1 in a letter addressed to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

            The letter unfolds with the premise:  “With the approach of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, I would like to focus on several points which I believe require attention to enable the celebration of the Holy Year to be for all believers a true moment of encounter with the mercy of God.  It is indeed my with that the Jubilee be a living experience of the closeness of the Father, whose tenderness is almost tangible, so that the faith of every believer may be strengthened and thus testimony to it be ever more effective.” 

            Indeed, extraordinarily extending to all priests the faculty to forgive the reserved sin of abortion is nothing less than a tangible “moment of encounter with the mercy of God.”  A woman who obtains an abortion automatically incurs a “latae sententiae” excommunication, along with those who assisted her in the process.  Because of this, the sin of abortion is normally only be absolved by a bishop or certain priests appointed by him. 

            Says Pope Francis,  “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 agonizing and painful decision.  What has happened is profoundly unjust; yet understanding the truth of it can enable one not to lose hope.   The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented, especially when that person approaches the Sacrament of Confession with a sincere heart in order to obtain reconciliation with the Father.”

            Of course, extending this faculty to priests is common with some bishops especially during Lent and specific occasions.   Yet, taking this to a universal level is something that will raise the eyebrows of some segment in the Catholic Church.  But this is Pope Francis, who, according to Cardinal Mauro Piancenza, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is the “pope of mercy” and who looks at the confessional not as a “torture chamber” but a place where one leaves “with happiness of heart, with a face of radiant hope.”