VATICAN CITY -- From now onwards, all priests from across the world, not solely the ‘missionaries of mercy’ such as bishops and special confessors, shall be able to absolve women who discontinue their pregnancy through abortion, something Pope Francis, who formally closed the Jubilee of Mercy ceremony on Sunday,  still considers to be “a grave sin.”

 The news is contained within the ‘Misericordia et miserable’ document for the end of the Holy Year, and the most significant change concerns abortion. Offering such wide and open forgiveness for the termination of pregnancy, the pontiff reminds us still that is it indeed a “grave sin,” but that the mercy of God is stronger.

 For the Church, there are some serious sins, including abortion, which are punished by excommunication on a canonical level. In the past, only bishops or special confessors had the right to grant absolution for the sin of abortion, but now the pope has opened the right to all priests. In Misericordia document, the pontiff states that “no obstacle can be placed between the request for reconciliation and forgiveness of God.”

 Hence, Pope Francis, “grants all priests, by virtue of their ministry, the power to absolve those who have procured the sin of abortion,” yet still reinstating, “I would like to reiterate with all my might that abortion is a grave sin because it puts an end to an innocent life. With equal force, I can and must say that there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and destroy when it finds a repentant heart that asks to be reconciled with the Father. Every priest, therefore, should give guidance, support and comfort in accompanying penitents on this journey of special reconciliation.”

 sw