And just in time for the election and amid a scandal !
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/09/01/pope-francis-tells-priests-to-pardon-women-who-have-abortions/
Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Francis on Tuesday called on priests to pardon women who have abortions, and the doctors who perform them, during the upcoming Jubilee year — overruling hardline traditionalists within the Catholic Church.
“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,” he said.
I think I have a real clue as to why my Grandfather refused to enter a Catholic Church any more.
Seems to me the Pope is calling on Priests to forgive the “sin of abortion” for those who truly repent of it.
Isn’t forgiveness of sin and repentance a pillar of Christianity?
I don’t read that the Pope is endorsing abortion. I read that he is calling Priests to forgive those who have repented their choice to abort like they would those that repent of thieving or murder.
Much ado. Nothing new here–a priest in confession has ALWAYS had that power to absolve or not to absolve sins, including serious ones. Note that even the article concedes that it’s conditioned upon the sinner’s contrition. At the risk of getting a bit trivial, it’s like a police officer’s discretion, which everybody concedes exists, and for good reason. Once upon a time any halfway knowledgeable Catholic above the age of 10 would have known that. But those were the days when Johnny not only could read, but had to know his Baltimore Catechism.
So the whole Planned Parenthood thing had nothing to do with this?
Cool, Okay; I just thought the Pope might want to take a stand against the whole thing, sorry; I was wrong.
Is it possible he made the proclamation to keep awareness/cognitive thought about the problem in the forefront? One of the problems with a lot of Clergy is that they actually believe and try to practice that whole hate the sin love the sinner thing.
The Year of Jubilee follows every 7th Sabbath Year, so it comes once every 50 years, supposed to be a period of sin and debt forgiveness, return of slaves and indentured people, and return of property to it’s rightful owner.
I liken the proclamation to the Chief coming to squad meeting and saying, ‘Guys, unless there is a compelling reason, quit writing tickets for less than 10 over the limit.’
JM .02
We will know he is up to no good when he tells folks to take down those ‘Abortion stops a beating heart’ ‘Thank your Mother, she chose life for you’ signs along the highways in mid-America.