Posted on 09/01/2015 7:08:42 AM PDT by Graybeard58
Pope Francis will give all priests discretion during the Roman Catholic Church's upcoming Holy Year to formally forgive women who have had abortions, in the Argentine pontiff's latest move towards a more open and inclusive church.
In Church teaching, abortion is such a grave sin that those who procure or perform it incur an automatic excommunication. Usually only designated clergy and missionaries can formally forgive abortions.
But from Dec.8 to Nov. 26, during an extraordinary Holy Year or "Jubilee" on the theme of mercy announced by Pope Francis in March, all priests will be able to do so, he said in a letter published on Tuesday by the Vatican.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Well, we’ll see about the latter part of your post. I have no use for this Pope but there is no “downgrading” in forgiveness. In Catholicism, all sin can be forgiven. And abortion being murder, it’s a big, mortal sin.
Does the fact that was believed by ALL Christians for 1500 years have any weight for you?
Are you saying that this gift provided to the Apostles is no longer valid for any repentant sinner, since the Apostles died?
What about the fact that Jesus gave them the Holy Spirit in order to do this? Is the Holy Spirit available to us now, and why can’t It be still used in the manner Jesus proscribed?
Or are you saying anyone can get this gift, the binding and loosing of sins, just by thinking it or willing it?
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
this guy is a menace and has got to go. After all he has done one is not sure that God will forgive him. Che Guevara in a Papal hat.
I respect the Catholic Church (usually), but I am not a Catholic. So I don't quite understand this. So two questions, please, for the FR Catholics out there.
If any priest can forgive a sin, why did the Pope make an allowance for abortion this Holy Year? Didn't all priests already have that ability?
And two, what is the situation if a sin is not forgiven by a priest?
Yes all sin can be forgiven. I am just saying that the Pope may be downgrading the seriousness of the sin of abortion because of the actions the Pope and the Vatican will take in September in regards to the UN Sustainable Development document. I am Catholic and this makes me sick. I want to be wrong about this. Check this out from EWTN on “The World Over”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUZvSAWNNKs
You cannot imagine it because it is not so.
Abortion, the murder of an innocent, is such a heinous sin against God that it is a 'reserved sin', one which automatically incurs excommunication. This may only be removed by the local bishop. Normally a priest has to first go to the bishop before absolution can be given.
What the Pope has done for the Year of Mercy is to allow regular priests to give absolution without a trip to the bishop.
“In September the Vatican is going to sign a United Nations document that approves of abortion in the name of reproductive rights.”
Where did you get this idea?
We got a bunch of people here flipping out because the Pope is allowing priests to lift the automatic excommunication you get as soon as you get, or help someone get, an abortion. That is church law.
What, pray, is the penalty prescribed for abortion in all these so-called Bible Churches? And what penance do they prescribe for people to make right what they have done? Or does the sinner get off scot free?
And how can people with a straight face complain about getting forgiveness from a man, and then declare themselves categorically forgiven? If men can't forgive sins, that means you. So how dare you walk around telling everyone your sins have been forgiven by God when you didn't get that info straight from Him?
Just curious, is regular old murder treated the same way?
Hardly. Since abortion is the murder of an innocent, it incurs automatic excommunication. In doing what he did for the Year of Mercy, the Pope has relieved confessors from having to get the excommunication lifted by the local bishop. The Pope hopes that will make it easier for women who repent of their sin to be reconciled to Our Lord and then go forward and live a holy life.
Regular old murder is a sin, a very serious sin. It is treated in regular confession if one is in prison, if not, one must take responsibility (turn oneself in) before absolution can be given.
See pbear’s response in #47. Abortion is different from most sins in that there’s an automatic excommunication attached to it. So you not only have to confess, you have to have that excommunication lifted.
Yes, any priest can absolve sins, provided the person making the person confessing has what’s called “purpose of amendment”—i.e., he or she is sorry and really trying to do better. If the priest finds that you are not sorry and have no desire whatsoever to change your ways, he will not absolve you. He will tell you to come back if and when you are ready.
To relate it to John 20, the priest can forgive sin or retain it. It’s pretty uncommon though for a priest to not give absolution.
Abortion incurs a penalty of automatic excommunication. The bishop must first lift this prior to absolution. Priests must first consult the local bishop normally.
During the Year of Mercy the Pope is allowing priests to give absolution without the going to the bishop first. His hope is that many repentant women will more easily be reconciled to God and to the Church.
Oops...my bad, meant to ping pbear8 not PBear. Apologies!
Remember that in your next confession ;)
LOL...hey, and now I can go the local SSPX chapel for that one!
;)
LOL - indeed !!
I’m Catholic and this article is beyond confusing. First, any sin can be confessed if it is done so with true intent/understanding of the sin and the need to repent. ANY sin. ALL sin. In no time that I know of... did a priest refuse a confession or of some “secret” list that is a lifetime sin. I have known women who have had abortions, and later realized what they truly did... and confessed. Both times, the women were given absolution.
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