Pope Francis announced on Tuesday that the Catholic church, for the jubilee year, can grant absolution to women who have had abortions.
I have decided, notwithstanding to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the jubilee year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it.
It wasn’t long before Jeb Bush was on Fox News tearing down the pope’s decision.
The host, Martha MacCullum, asked Bush if he was surprised by the pope’s decision. Jeb’s response:
Look, I think we could all use a lot of mercy in this world. And the pope is a loving person, and having absolution – [allowing] the priest to give absolution is extraordinary, but I’m not surprised at all.
Bush went on to criticize the pope’s decision:
I think we need to have a society that protects life from the beginning to end, and we should be a repentant society for sure. And mercy should be at the heart of everything we do.
This all comes amid the GOP distancing itself to a greater and greater extent from the pope. Whether the issue is climate change or women’s rights, conservatives do not want to change their backward positions on the way they think the world should be.
