Pope extends power to forgive abortion to priests

Four prominent, disgruntled cardinals, including a US prelate, Raymond Burke, who is one of Francis’ most vocal critics, in a letter to the pope aired their doubts about his more compassionate approach to the contentious issue involving divorced Catholics.

Pope Francis on Monday declared in an apostolic letter the “grave sin” of abortion can be forgiven by “all priests” for the next year.

In an interview, Francis went on to call abortion, a “horrendous crime,” according to the Independent, a London-based website.

Because the Roman Catholic Church holds abortion to be such a serious sin, it was long a matter for a bishop who could either hear the woman’s confession himself or delegate that to a priest who was expert in such situations.

“It touched the batteries of the entire world”, he said, adding “thousands of people returned to the sacraments, they understood how to practice mercy, how to forgive one another”.

Those words carried a special resonance given the controversy that erupted in recent days as four conservative cardinals publicly challenged Francis over his efforts to make the church more open and pastoral in its ministry, saying that they may try to charge him with teaching heresy if he does not clarify some of his statements.

Pope Francis arrives to lead a consistory for the creation of 17 new cardinals from across the globe on November 19, 2016 at St Peter’s basilica in Vatican. A year ago, Pope Francis called for the Jubilee year of Mercy symbolizing the gift of mercy for pilgrims.

Pictured top, Bishop Alan Hopes closes the Door of mercy at Norwich RC Cathedral and, above, addresses parish representatives from across East Anglia. Turning practical, he said that due to the country’s hot season and monsoon season, the trip will likely take place in the second half of 2017 at the end of the year. “It’s either black or white (to them), even if in the flow of life you have to discern”, the Pope told Avvenire.

Speaking to Catholic News Service after the consistory, Cardinal Tobin said the pope’s homily was “very timely” and the cardinals, as well as all Catholics, should “examine ourselves and the church to see whether we have unconsciously appropriated this “virus” of polarization and animosity.

Many of them come from the world’s peripheries. Once mercy has been truly experienced, it is impossible to turn back.

The Pope has the power to name cardinals, which allows him to select those that will eventually name his successor.

The letter is titled “Misericordia et misera”, Latin for “Mercy and misery”, a phrase used by the great fifth-century bishop and theologian St. Augustine in a meditation on the parable in the Gospel of John about Jesus saving a woman taken in adultery from the threat of stoning by religious authorities.

Cardinal Cupich said he told the pope he could count on his support.

Francis gave copies of the letter to Philippines Cardinal Luis Tagle, as a representative of one of the biggest archdioceses of the world, and Scottish Archbishop Leo Cushley, head of the archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh. The Year of Mercy was a call to “rediscover the youthful, attractive face of the church, the face that is radiant when it is welcoming, free, faithful, poor in means but rich in love, on mission”.