Pope
Francis delivers his Sunday Angelus prayer from the window of the
apostolic
palace overlooking St Peter's Square in the Vatican on August 30,
2015 (AFP
Photo/Alberto Pizzoli)
|
Vatican
City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Tuesday called on priests to pardon women who have
abortions 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," he said.
In a
message outlining special measures for the Jubilee year starting in December,
Francis said he knew that while "abortion is experienced by some with a
superficial awareness" many others "believe that they have no other
option".
A Peruvian
nun takes part in the anti-
abortion "March for Life" protest
organised
by the Catholic Church in Lima on
March 21, 2015 (AFP Photo/Sebastian
Castaneda)
|
Abortion is
considered a particularly serious sin and is punishable under Canon law by
excommunication, by which those guilty are expelled from the Church and
considered to be condemned to Hell in the afterlife.
Queues
for forgiveness?
Catholics
for Choice, a US-based pro-choice organization, said this was another positive
example of Francis trying to bridge the gulf "between what the hierarchy
says and what ordinary Catholics really do".
"However,
despite what Pope Francis has said, I do not believe that Catholic women will
be queueing up to ask for forgiveness," the organisation's president Jon
O'Brien said in a statement.
And
limiting the period of forgiveness to one year "suggests that he still has
a blind spot when it comes to women and what they want".
The Vatican
had already said in May that abortion would be included among the sins
pardonable during the Jubilee, but the original plan had been for a certain,
limited number of priests to have the power to forgive.
Bishops are
already able to authorise priests in their dioceses to forgive those who
undergo or carry out abortions.
The
hot-button topic has been the subject of increasingly fierce debate within the
Church. In 2009 the Vatican drew heavy criticism after it supported a bishop
who had excommunicated the mother and doctors of a nine-year-old girl who was
given an abortion after her stepfather raped her.
Francis,
78, who has repeatedly urged the Church to show greater compassion, said
priests should use "words of genuine welcome", as well as making sure
those involved were aware of "the gravity of the sin committed".
O'Brien
said the pope's message on abortion was likely "more for his brother
bishops than Catholics in the pew".
'A daring
double play'
In his
message, Francis also reached out to the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a
break-away super-conservative group which refuses to recognize church reforms
and has been accused of being mired in anti-Semitism.
Vatican
expert John Allen, writing for Crux, said by putting measures which will please
both liberals and conservatives alike in the same package, Francis had
performed "a daring pastoral double play".
"Putting
these two olive branches into the same package could be seen as another effort
by Francis at political equilibrium, reminiscent of his decision in April 2014
to beatify the late Popes John XXIII and John Paul II together, icons for the
Catholic left and right respectively," he said.
The pontiff
announced earlier this year a Jubilee year -- traditionally a time for
remission and forgiveness -- which will run from December 8 to November 20 and
be celebrated not only in the Vatican but in dioceses across the world.
To mark the
Holy year, Francis also called for amnesty for prisoners in jails across the
world who have repented.
"The
Jubilee Year has always constituted an opportunity for great amnesty, which is
intended to include the many people who, despite deserving punishment, have
become conscious of the injustice they worked," he said.
Under
Catholic tradition, pilgrims seeking forgiveness passed through holy doors
present in four basilicas in Rome, which were usually kept walled shut, then
opened for Jubilee years.
Francis
extended the practice to the doors of all Cathedrals across the world.
For prison
inmates, Francis said that praying "each time they cross the threshold of
their cell" would "signify for them their passage through the Holy
Door".
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Question: Dear Kryon, thank you for the many communications you have given. They have been enlightening in many ways. I hope this is not a rude question, but it is a subject that I have not seen addressed in the collection of Questions and Answers. I want to know: What is the morality of stopping someone's new life in the physical plane, by abortion? And what is the karma to the person who helps to accomplish an abortion? I think it will depend on when a Human life begins. When life begins is a moment that is very important to those who oppose abortion and those who say it is allowable.
Do you have a decisive response to guide those who receive your words?
Answer: [from Lee Carroll] We have tried to "paint" Kryon into a corner on this many times, since it really is an important issue in our society. Kryon says this: "Human life actually begins when the intent of the entities involved in the planning session is to create it." It's not a biological answer, and it won't please either side.
This places it far before any kind of biological morality decision. Kryon has said that there is no judgement in the choice of Humans... including this one. When it occurs, there is also no horrible karmic payback. But there IS energy created that affects everyone around the event. Sometimes these lives come and go to create lessons for those involved, then these terminated lives return almost immediately, often within the next pregnancy (sometimes changing gender). If there is no next pregnancy, often it's in a very close family group.
God is not in a vacuum concerning these things, and often they are set-ups, and are executed with the agreement of all parties in advance. This is far different than our society wishes to believe. They want to paint a black and white answer to when life occurs, and set rules on what you can and cannot do with it. Instead, Kryon's answer gives honor and validity to the fact that you are not here by accident, and the things that take place in your lives are not random. Not to mention the fact that your free choice is the free choice of God (since you are a piece of God).
So we leave the biological cultural decisions for those who wish to make them, but we have heard the spiritual answers many times... that these things are far more than they appear, and are all part of our spiritual setups, and they are honored.
God is not in a vacuum concerning these things, and often they are set-ups, and are executed with the agreement of all parties in advance. This is far different than our society wishes to believe. They want to paint a black and white answer to when life occurs, and set rules on what you can and cannot do with it. Instead, Kryon's answer gives honor and validity to the fact that you are not here by accident, and the things that take place in your lives are not random. Not to mention the fact that your free choice is the free choice of God (since you are a piece of God).
So we leave the biological cultural decisions for those who wish to make them, but we have heard the spiritual answers many times... that these things are far more than they appear, and are all part of our spiritual setups, and they are honored.
"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism, Higgs Boson), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)
"... I want to define life for you - not biological life, but spiritual life. So for all those intellectuals, just hold on, for many won't like this. Spiritual life, as measured by Spirit, is when a Human has free choice. When is that? It's when they take their first breath. Not in utero. There will be those who will say, "That's wrong, that's wrong. The soul in the woman's body is alive!" Just wait. I'm talking about spiritually. That which Spirit sees, and it's when you come from the other side of the veil and take your first breath.
A child with the mother has no free choice. That child is linked to the choice of the mother until it is born. It is, indeed, a soul in preparation for free choice, and there are many attributes that are spiritual that we have discussed before about how that soul reacts. But now I'm discussing life with polarity [duality], free choice.
But let's discuss that "child inside" for a moment, for there is a process I want you to know about. I want to talk about 240 days into the pregnancy. At about that time, the child has perfect DNA. It hasn't taken its first breath. The DNA hasn't measured the energy of the planet yet, since it is contained. Did you realize that? Inside the womb is a perfect child. The child's DNA has all the attributes of the Akash and also the parent, but it's different in a way you have not been told. The DNA is 100% as designed.
The quantum instructions within the DNA are all talking to the biology of the child,, getting ready for the first breath. ..."
"THE THREE WINDS" – Feb 23-24, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Humanity, Home - other side of the veil, Wind of Birth - Birth, Wind of Existence - Life, Wind of Transition - Death) - (Text version)
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