Pope Francis announced that he would maker permanent the practice of allowing priests to forgive abortion, an announcement he had made during the Jubilee of Mercy to promote a more merciful church.

The pope had decided last year that priests should be allowed to absolve people of the sin of abortion instead of just excommunicating them. Francis adopted this practice as part of his Year of Mercy to allow people to see the church as a merciful community and one that understands humans are imperfect. Francis acknowledged that abortion is a "grave sin," but believes that everyone should have the ability to feel the mercy of God. Pope John Paul II put into affect the same practice during his year of mercy in 2000.

The pope has worked since his election in 2013 to promote a more merciful and inclusive environment within the church saying that the doors of the church are "open to everyone." He moved away from the need for purity that Pope Benedict had championed for and looked towards reaching as many people as possible.

While Francis has acknowledged that the church should strive toward purity, his writings say that it should also be open to allowing others to experience that need to please God. As Francis said, "there is no sin that God's mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with the Father."

According the New York Times, Francis wanted to make this a permanent tenant of the church because it was being enacted in very different ways before and through the year of mercy. Bishops and special confessors appointed by those bishops were the only one allowed to give absolution to those who had had an abortion. Some diocese extended this power of absolution to all priests and others would refuse to give forgiveness to those who were seeking it for their abortions. The pope wanted to make sure that all people had access to forgiveness if they sought it.

The Pope called upon the faithful of the church to "promote a culture of mercy based on the rediscovery of encounters with others, in which no one looks at another with indifference or turns away from the suffering brothers and sisters."