All priests can pardon faithful of abortion, says Pope

VATICAN CITY- In a letter to head organiser of the Jubilee, Rino Fisichella, Pope Francis called Tuesday for a worldwide amnesty, requesting those concerned to ask for forgiveness for committing abortion, a grave sin according to Roman Catholic doctrine. “I have decided to allow all priests for the Jubilee Year the ability to absolve the sin of abortion for those who truly repent and have asked for forgiveness.”

 The pontiff has expanded the initiative in the run up to the Jubilee, which originally saw him granting this power to only certain priests during the Holy Year. They would have acted as “missionaries of mercy,” going to various dioceses and giving the faithful the opportunity to confess their sins. “God’s forgiveness of anyone who repents cannot be denied, especially when he or she repents sincerely adhering to the Sacrament of Penance to receive absolution from the Holy Father.”

 The faithful will be able to ask forgiveness from December 8, 2015, until November 20, 2016, the duration of the Jubilee year. Until now, only the diocesan bishop was allowed to forgive parents and doctors involved in the abortion act, and he was sometimes able to delegate priests to do so as well.

 “One of the most serious issues of our time is undoubtedly the changing relationship one has with life” the pope wrote in the letter to archbishop, who is also the president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation. “A widespread mentality has resulted in the loss of social and personal sensitivity they have towards welcoming life into the world.”

 The pontiff continued by saying that many people who have had an abortion do not realise the sinful nature that such an act has. He added that many others, despite having seeing the abortion as a defeat, claim to have had no other choice: “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 on their heart the scar of this painful decision. What has happened to them is deeply unjust, yet only understanding the reality of it can allow one to remain hopeful.”

 The letter also talked of granting prison chapels around the world the Jubilee Indulgence, for those “who, despite deserving punishment, have become conscious of the injustice they worked and sincerely wish to re-enter society and make their honest contribution to it.”