As part of the jubilee, the Holy Father has extended to all priests the “discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it.” The Church considers abortion such a grave offense against the God the Creator and Source of all life that those who obtain or perform an abortion excommunicate themselves from the body of Christ – but Pope Francis hopes to make 2016 a time for all who wish to return to communion with the Church and experience the healing mercy of God.

What especially struck me about the Pope’s letter is his recognition of the pain and anguish experienced by women who have an abortion. Many of these women, Pope Francis writes, experience abortion “ believ[ing] that they have no other option.”

“I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision. What has happened is profoundly unjust; yet only understanding the truth of it can enable one not to lose hope.”

Pope Francis reminds us that “sinners” are often victims of the evil committed. He challenges us to lower the volume on our criticism and outrage and work, instead, to become a means for those who seek to turn their lives around to experience the mercy of God. Mercy begins with realizing the desperation that drives individuals to make horrific choices. Most of us have known such despair and desperation at one time or another in our own lives.

In the year of mercy ahead, may we be ministers of reconciliation by first recognizing the “scars” on every heart in order to lift up one another in the mercy of God.

Deacon Jay Cormier