Which sins can only bishops absolve?

[Tis_Bearself]

The priest would have followed the proper process to deal with the situation of a penitent who was confessing a sin of abortion before Pope Francis changed the rule. It probably would have been a process like Fr. Inthepew described.

 

[InThePew]

So, not having known that up until recently only a Bishop could absolve the sin of abortion, are those whose priests absolved them of it before Pope Francis said they could still carrying that sin on their souls? Would they need to confess it again, now that priests can absolve it, or would the first absolution be valid because those penitents didn’t know otherwise?

Again, like I said above, there’s a difference between sin and penalties. Once you’re absolved then that’s all there is to it. There’s nothing (in the Western Church at least) that requires you to be absolved by a bishop. While the penalty for participation in a abortion was previously reserved to the local bishop before Pope Francis’ changes, in practice, a lot of bishops had already delegated this to their priests - that’s of course assuming the penalty even applied in the first place (which is probably doubtful at best). Regardless, those changes only applied to lifting the penalty - priests were able to absolve the sin before just as they can now.

 

[Jeanne_S]

The ability for priests to forgive the sin of abortion was extended long before Pope Francis’
St.John Paul initiated this.

 

[OraLabora]

The ability for priests to forgive the sin of abortion was extended long before Pope Francis’
St.John Paul initiated this.

Yes, I believe that bishops always had the ability to delegate their authority to their priests, and most did.

 

[JanR]

Thank you, Folks. It’s good to know that.

 

[James579]

In many dioceses in the US, bishops have delegated the faculty to remit in either the internal or external forum any latae sententiae excommunication (eg. for abortion, apostacy, heresy or schism) to all their priests. The internal forum refers to within the sacrament of Penance, while the external forum takes place outside the sacrament. So if you are troubled by this, I would suggest the following steps: (1) Research the Pagella of Faculties of each diocese closest to you, either by an online search or by calling the chancery of each diocese, to determine in their priests have this faculty. (2) Make an appointment with a priest in one of these dioceses for a meeting in the rectory. First ensure that he has the faculty to remit the censure in the external forum. To avoid a lot of circular discussion, describe why you think you were excommunicated, ask him to stipulate that the excommunication did in fact occur, and to absolve you of it right then and there, using the form given in Appendix 1 of the Rite of Penance. (3) The censure will be remitted, and you will then be free to make a full sacramental confession either with him or with any priest of your choice.