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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Pope Francis recently announced that priests will have discretion during the Roman Catholic Church&#8217;s Holy Year to formally forgive women who have abortions.</p><p>Rev. Shane Kirby, of the Scranton Diocese, said the move is nothing new for some priests in parts of the world, including locally.</p><p>From Dec. 8 to Nov. 26, during the Holy Year or &#8220;Jubilee&#8221; on the theme of mercy announced by Pope Francis in March, all priests will be able to forgive abortions, the pope said in a letter published on Tuesday by the Vatican.</p><p>Kirby explained that priests have always had the ability to absolve the sin of abortions. In church teaching, abortion is such a grave sin that those who procure or perform it incur an automatic excommunication from the church.</p><p>Typically, only designated clergy and missionaries can formally forgive abortions.</p><p>Kirby said that, as a result of the pope&#8217;s declaration, priests will universally have the ability to lift excommunication.</p><p>Normally, he explained that process would be in the hands of a bishop.</p><p>&#8220;There are parts of the world where bishops have reserved the act of lifting excommunication to themselves,&#8221; Kirby said. In parts of the world, including the Scranton Diocese, he said priests have had the ability to lift excommunication &#8220;for many years.&#8221;</p><p>In the letter, Francis described the &#8220;existential and moral ordeal&#8221; faced by women who have terminated pregnancies and said he had &#8220;met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision.&#8221;</p><p>Although he has shown no intention of retracting the church&#8217;s opposition to abortion, he has alarmed conservatives by taking a less forceful tone than his predecessors.</p><p>&#8220;This is by no means an attempt to minimize the gravity of this sin but to widen the possibility of showing mercy,&#8221; Vatican chief spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters.</p><p>Kirby had similar beliefs. He stressed the act itself is still considered a sin, but for women who have had abortions, the pope&#8217;s movement is a way to welcome them back to the church and let them &#8220;receive the embrace of God&#8217;s mercy.&#8221;</p><p><em>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</em></p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Pope Francis </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Francis.jpg</photo0><caption0>Pope Francis </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Pope enables priests to forgive abortions during Holy Year