Giving priests permission to offer absolution to women who had abortions will,however, rankle conservatives and support the Church compete with evangelicalsPope Francis’s pastoral letter for the Year of Mercy, and indicating that priests may absolve those who procure abortions,does nothing to change Catholic church policy with regards to how abortion is viewed. Current canonical law states that abortion is a grave sin, resulting in “automatic” excommunication.
It also doesn’t change very much when it comes to the mechanics of sin and forgiveness in the Catholic Church. Current teachings state that bishops could give priests the right to forgive a woman for having an an abortion whether she was truly penitent; for this year, and priests do not specifically contain to ask a bishop for the right to absolve anyone seeking forgiveness for assisting an abortion or having one. (And Pope John Paul II gave priests the same term-limited right in the year 2000.)Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com