--- title: Pope Francis: Priests Can Forgive Abortion in Holy Year description: Priests will be allowed to absolve those "who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it," Pope Francis announced Tuesday canonical: https://time.com/4018460/pope-francis-priest-forgive-abortion-holy-year/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-01T12:49:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:36:13.692Z article:section: World og:title: Pope Francis: Priests Can Forgive Abortion If Women Are 'Contrite' og:description: Priests will be allowed to absolve those "who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it" og:url: https://time.com/4018460/pope-francis-priest-forgive-abortion-holy-year/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbe4204635330084/698861c8524fc06b41df4536/pope-francis.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 26 Aug 2015, Vatican City --- Pope Francis during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on August 26, 2015 (Photo by Massimo Valicchia/NurPhoto) --- Image by © Massimo Valicchia/NurPhoto/Corbis og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pope Francis: Priests Can Forgive Abortion If Women Are 'Contrite' twitter:description: Priests will be allowed to absolve those "who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbe4204635330084/698861c8524fc06b41df4536/pope-francis.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pope Francis: Priests Can Forgive Abortion If Women Are 'Contrite' ## Video: Lawmakers Reveal Their Own Abortions [Watch (HLS stream): Lawmakers Reveal Their Own Abortions](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SldXApeh.m3u8) (3:56)  _Published 2015-06-23. Lawmakers Reveal Their Own Abortions-v1_ by [Alastair Jamieson and Claudio Lavanga/NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Alastair Jamieson and Claudio Lavanga/NBC News Sep 1, 2015 12:49 PM CUT  Pope Francis during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Aug. 26, 2015. Pope Francis during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Aug. 26, 2015.Massimo Valicchia—NurPhoto/Corbis by [Alastair Jamieson and Claudio Lavanga/NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Alastair Jamieson and Claudio Lavanga/NBC News Sep 1, 2015 12:49 PM CUT Pope Francis will allow Roman Catholic priests to absolve women who have had abortions if they seek forgiveness during the upcoming Holy Year of Mercy, the [Vatican announced Tuesday](http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2015/09/01/0637/01386.html#ing "undefined"). The pontiff said he will allow priests “discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it” during the special year, beginning Dec. 8. “I am well aware of the pressure that has led \[women\] to this decision,” he wrote in the announcement. “I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal.” [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/pope-francis-priests-can-forgive-abortion-if-women-are-contrite-n419321?cid=par-time-article%5F20150901 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4018460/pope-francis-priest-forgive-abortion-holy-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4018460/pope-francis-priest-forgive-abortion-holy-year/"},"headline":"Pope Francis: Priests Can Forgive Abortion If Women Are 'Contrite'","datePublished":"2015-09-01T12:49:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:36:13.692Z","description":"Priests will be allowed to absolve those \"who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it\"","url":"https://time.com/4018460/pope-francis-priest-forgive-abortion-holy-year/","keywords":["Vatican"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbe4204635330084/698861c8524fc06b41df4536/pope-francis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alastair Jamieson and Claudio Lavanga/NBC News"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfbe4204635330084/698861c8524fc06b41df4536/pope-francis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"26 Aug 2015, Vatican City --- Pope Francis during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on August 26, 2015 (Photo by Massimo Valicchia/NurPhoto) --- Image by © Massimo Valicchia/NurPhoto/Corbis","caption":"26 Aug 2015, Vatican City --- Pope Francis during the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on August 26, 2015 (Photo by Massimo Valicchia/NurPhoto) --- Image by © Massimo Valicchia/NurPhoto/Corbis","creditText":"Massimo Valicchia—NurPhoto/Corbis","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/vatican/","name":"Vatican"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4018460/pope-francis-priest-forgive-abortion-holy-year/","name":"Pope Francis: Priests Can Forgive Abortion If Women Are 'Contrite'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Lawmakers Reveal Their Own Abortions","description":"Lawmakers Reveal Their Own Abortions-v1","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/SldXApeh/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-23T20:49:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/SldXApeh.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4018460/pope-francis-priest-forgive-abortion-holy-year/","duration":"PT3M56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4018460/pope-francis-priest-forgive-abortion-holy-year/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```