Abortion is a very contentious issue, while it is legally encouraged in many parts of the world; it is a crime in some places like Africa. Notwithstanding different civil designation of abortion. It is an infraction on the Christian teaching which sees abortion as a very grave sin. Although some Christian bodies are reneging in upholding this truth, the Catholic Church among a few others, have not stopped reiterating the fact that a child no matter how small or how old he/she is, is a human person and any deliberate intent at killing the child is murder which is against the 5th commandment.

The sin of abortion is so grave that the magisterium of the Catholic Church invested only the Pope, Bishops and designated priests with the faculty to forgive this sin in the sacrament of confession.

But in an attempt to bring relief to many women who have done abortion, Pope Francis recently enacted an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy which will span from December 8, 2015 to November 2106. As part of the Jubilee, the Pope has allowed all priests to forgive the sin of abortion. Through this act he is encouraging millions of women who have aborted their children to go to confession and seek God’s mercy. Possibly they would have a change of mind and heave a great peace of mind.