In extending indefinitely the power of priests to absolve the "grave sin" of women who have had abortions, and of those who performed them, Pope Francis has again reaffirmed the central theme of his papacy, a non-judgmental outreach to those of the faithful who have strayed. Be they women who have had abortions, homosexuals, the divorced ...
"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 wrote in an apostolic letter, Misericordia et Misera, concluding his jubilee Holy Year of Mercy. "There is no sin that God's mercy cannot reach," he insisted, while staunchly reiterating that "abortion is a grave sin".
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.
Although some theologians have found Francis's emphasis on mercy excessive, suggesting – as veteran Vatican observer John Allen describes the criticism – that " it comes at the expense of calling sin by its real name", the pope stressed in the letter that forgiveness is central to the church's message and the essence of God's love.
“Mercy cannot become a mere parenthesis in the life of the church,” Francis writes. “It constitutes her very existence, through which the profound truths of the Gospel are made manifest and tangible. Everything is revealed in mercy; everything is resolved in the merciful love of the Father.”
He has criticised the church in the past for being “obsessed” with issues like abortion and homosexuality and denies that his emphasis on mercy undermines the mission to preach the truth. “Remaining only at the level of the law is equivalent to thwarting faith and divine mercy,” he warns in the document. “Even in the most complex cases, where there is a temptation to apply a justice derived from rules alone, we must believe in the power flowing from divine grace.”
Echoing a particular sensitivity that some see as coming from his experience of the church in Latin America, he argues that that centrality of mercy is intimately linked to the specific challenges of contemporary culture: “The culture of extreme individualism, especially in the West, has led to a loss of a sense of solidarity with and responsibility for others.”
But, be in no doubt, the church is not changing its position on abortion per se. Its opposition to legislative liberalising, like the call for repeal of the Eighth Amendment, will not soften. Real repentance by the sinner is required, is its underlying message. Forgiveness is only called for if there is a sin – and the view of the Vatican remains that abortion is a grave sin.