The Pope has ordered priests to offer forgiveness to women who have had abortions and the doctors who performed them.
The gesture is part of a special Holy Year of Mercy in the Catholic Church which will see priests become “missionaries of mercy” across the world.
They will have the authority to forgive the most serious of sins, including abortion, which would normally result in automatic excommunication, reported Mirror.
The theme of the Holy Year, which begins on December 8th, has been widely interpreted as a signal by Francis that the Catholic Church should be less judgmental.
Monsignor Rino Fisichella, one of the organisers, said Pope Francis meant the gesture “as a concrete sign that a priest must be a man of mercy and close to all”.
In a “Bull of Indiction” document explaining how he wants Catholics to celebrate Holy Year, Pope Francis said that the Church must be “an oasis of mercy”.
It went on: “The Church’s very credibility is seen in how she shows merciful and compassionate love.”
The United Nations condemned the Vatican for excommunicating the mother and doctor of a nine-year-old girl who had an abortion in Brazil in 2009.
The girl had become pregnant with twins after being raped by her stepfather.
But Italian cardinal Velasio De Paolis said: “Regardless of this decision by the Pope, the Church will continue to consider abortion a sin.
“‘I hope it does not cause confusion.
“He is the pope of mercy and wants to show the benevolence of the church towards sinners. This does not cancel the sin of abortion.”