Pope empowers priests to forgive abortion

Pope Francis said Monday that all priests will be able to forgive abortion, making permanent a temporary measure he had put in place for the Vatican’s jubilee year.
“I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have committed the sin of procured abortion,” the pope wrote in an apostolic letter marking the end of the “Year of Mercy”, which wound up Sunday.