Forgiveness no license to commit abortion, warns retired archbishop

Pope Francis’ move to forgive in this Holy Year those who had abortion is “not a license” to commit it, Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz said in an interview with reporters.

“This is not to say that abortion is okay,” Cruz said. “It only means that the mercy of God is bigger than the sin of abortion… Just the very fact that abortion was given special attention by the Holy Father means to say something is terrible,” the Archbishop added.

“I would like to believe that this privilege given to priests who hears confession is a big concession, because prior to the Holy Father’s move, only bishops can absolve one from excommunication (resulting from abortion),” Cruz said.

He explained that the penalty of excommunication meant that “those who undergo the abortion together with (those) who played an active role in the act are separated from the prayers of the Church the world over.”

Excommunication, Cruz added, was applicable only on two occasions: effective abortion and attempt on the life of the Holy Father.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, meanwhile, slammed abortion as an attack on human dignity which, he said in a post on the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, mirrors today’s materialistic mentality.

Throw-away culture

“If you are not useful anymore, you are dropped,” Tagle said in his homily during a Mass on Tuesday for the first World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation declared by Pope Francis.

Tagle decried abortion as an indication of today’s “throw-away culture.”

“(T)hat is why children are considered as liabilities and elderly people are not cared for,” he added.

In a letter published by the Vatican on Tuesday, Pope Francis said that from Dec. 8 to Nov. 26 next year, during an extraordinary Holy Year or “Jubilee” on the theme of mercy, all priests will be able to absolve women who have had abortions, as long as they repent “with a contrite heart.”

Francis described the “existential and moral ordeal” faced by women who have terminated pregnancies and said he had “met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision.”

The pope’s letter did not mention those who perform abortions.

Only during Holy Year

“This is by no means an attempt to minimize the gravity of this sin, but to widen the possibility of showing mercy,” Vatican chief spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters.

Deputy Vatican spokesman Father Ciro Benedettini said that “for now” the change would apply only during the Holy Year.

Liberal group Catholics for Choice welcomed the move as a gesture of engagement with women, but anti-abortion campaigners said they feared the pope’s letter could be misconstrued.—Tina G. Santos