I recently saw a story about Pope Francis’ decision to allow priests to forgive women who have had an abortion during a special year of mercy as long as they are contrite. It is decisions and statements like this that have led many people in recent years to move away from organized religion and into a more personal style of faith and spirituality. 

Let’s look at this particular concept in order to better understand why things like this turn people away from the Catholic Church. Firstly, the idea of a special year of mercy seems to be rather subjective and is only one example of the church’s proclamations that seem to be for the sake of convenience more than anything. Secondly, it bases the gift of grace on guilt. 

One thing that has turned people off to both the Catholic Church and organized religion in general is the seemingly arbitrary nature of many of its decisions. It seems the church makes many decisions based on what is convenient for it at the time rather than from Holy Scripture or some other objective source like many spiritual or religious people may prefer. 

This reminds me of when the church wanted to make Mother Teresa a saint. At the time, the official rule was that in order to become a saint, evidence of responsibility for two miracles needed to be apparent. However, Mother Teresa only had one miracle, so an exception was made in her case. 

This is an example of the Catholic Church doing something purely for the sake of convenience. This rule change and the special year of mercy both parallel many decisions the Catholic Church has made. This concept of convenience is hard to swallow for anyone who seeks objective truth, because if something can change based on such arbitrary terms, then it must not be objective. Objective truth is what draws people to religion and spirituality, and arbitrary decision-making contradicts that. 

It is clear in this day and age that abortion is becoming more and more commonly accepted. While we continue to observe a still raging debate on the subject, it seems like society within the United States is moving rapidly toward the acceptance of abortion as a legitimate medical practice as well as ethically permissible. For this reason it is clear why the Catholic Church’s position against abortion is problematic for many people, especially within the U.S. 

But, there is a second layer to the Catholic Church’s position on abortion that is truly frustrating. It is the idea that abortions may be forgiven for those women who are contrite — in other words, for those women who feel guilty. This is the exchange of grace for guilt. Whether you are for or against abortion, this should be unsettling. We don’t want to encourage guilt in anyone and especially not someone in that position. 

This concept of grace for guilt essentially is about shaming those who have decided an abortion is the best choice for them. This asserts the idea that those who have made that decision should be ashamed and feel guilty. If they do not, then they have no hope for mercy. This idea should be unsettling whether you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life. This shaming by the church has led to many religious people turning to a more personal spirituality. And not for lack of reason.