Paul KeenanThe Pope’s extension of the special permission for priests to grant absolution to those who have procured an abortion has been welcomed as an “important step” by a prominent canon laywer.
Reacting to the Pope’s announcement in his latest Apostolic letter of an indefinite extension of a faculty granted to priests during the Year of Mercy, Fr Paul Churchill, president of the Canon Law Society of Ireland said the faculty would be a key element in a woman’s journey to recovery after a termination.
“Women suffer horrendously through abortion,” he told this newspaper, and where a woman subsequently approaches a priest, “it is kindness they need as they are dealt with pastorally”.
In this, Fr Churchill explained, it is helpful for priests to be able to assure a woman of absolution for a termination.
Canon law
In terms of Canon law, meanwhile, Fr Paul explained that while the censure of excommunication is often considered as automatic in the case of abortion, this might not always hold.
“For many women seeking an abortion there is fear, shame, or pressure on them. Such factors would mean they are not excommunicated.” In the case of a doctor carrying out a termination, however, he pointed out that the censure element still holds, as the physician is “thinking clearly” and not operating under any pressures.
Such considerations were a matter of discernment for priests, he said.
“This is not a cross-examination.”
Fr Churchill added also that clergy should never assume that the granting of absolution was the end-point of a woman’s recovery from abortion. “Many women may still have to go through counselling in dealing with abortion,” he cautioned, “and every priest should deal with love and encouragement in this.”
A spokesman for the Irish bishops’ conference has said the hierarchy has welcomed the Pope’s Apostolic letter.