Honestly, I hadn't even realized that was an issue.
Remarking that he has met with many women who have faced this decision, Francis said that women "who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision" deserve the forgiveness of God if they seek it.
I'm all for this. If they are truly sorry, then they SHOULD be forgiven. Going thru Confession is a wonderful thing. It's an even more wonderful feeling to BE forgiven as well.
GPIA7R said:Hasn't thought of this... are people acknowledging that abortion is a bad, a sin, an evil thing now? Hmmmm.
Hasn't thought of this... are people acknowledging that abortion is a bad, a sin, an evil thing now? Hmmmm.
Many Catholics even oppose contraception.
You mean it isn't?
I mean... the "left" is praising the Pope's decision here. That sounds like they're acknowledging abortion was a bad thing worthy of confessing to. /shrug
GPIA7R said:I mean... the "left" is praising the Pope's decision here. That sounds like they're acknowledging abortion was a bad thing worthy of confessing to. /shrug
Well the decision is 'progressive' in their eyes, even if it doesn't quite get them to final destination, which would be the church's endorsement of abortion. They love this pope. He's so flexible on Biblical doctrines.
But here's the irony - he didn't really say anything new.
Originally posted by Pope Francis
The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented, especially when that person approaches the Sacrament of Confession with a sincere heart in order to obtain reconciliation with the Father. For this reason too, I have decided, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the Jubilee Year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it.
Well... it is sorta new, isn't it? Allows someone with an abortion in their past to be reinstated in the church?
In the United States, many priests already have that power, but Vatican officials portrayed Tuesday's announcement as "a widening of the church's mercy." "What's new is that Pope Francis, at least for the Year of Mercy, is universalizing this permission," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor-at-large at America magazine in New York.
...
The Pope's policy does not change church doctrine and applies only to the Year of Mercy, a centuries-old Catholic practice during which believers may receive special indulgences for their sins. The mercy year begins on December 8 and runs through November 20, 2016. Vatican officials said it is possible the pontiff will allow the abortion policy to continue in perpetuity.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that person who procures an abortion incurs automatic excommunication, a penalty that often only a bishop can lift. Some experts in the Catholic canon law expressed confusion about the practical effects of the Pope's announcement.
...
. Edward Peters, a canon lawyer at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, said Francis' statement seems to assume that the "sin" of abortion and the "crime" of abortion are treated equally under church law.
But Peters said priests have been empowered to forgive the sin, which most often applies to women who have an abortion, since 1983, when the code of canon law was revised.
It's the canonical crime of abortion, which Peters said more aptly applies to abortion providers, that would incur automatic excommunication and require a bishop's intervention.
In an explanatory article, a consultant to the Vatican Press Office agreed that, under current church law "in many cases" an abortion "may be absolved as would any other serious sin."
Well... it is sorta new, isn't it? Allows someone with an abortion in their past to be reinstated in the church?
Yes.Anyone have a good explanation for Rambone's questions?