ROME (AP) — Pope Francis will let all priests in the Holy Year absolve people from 'sin of abortion' if they repent.
Francis has upheld church teaching opposing abortion and echoed his predecessors in saying human life is sacred and must be defended. But he has not emphasized the church's position to the extent that his predecessors did, explaining that by now the church's teaching on abortion is well-known and that priests "cannot be obsessed" with preaching only about "a disjointed multitude of doctrines." In an indication of his mercy-over-morals position, he has established a new type of roving confessor, dubbed "missionaries of mercy," who can absolve people of sins reserved to the Holy See, including abortion.