Kenyan priests welcome Pope's edict to forgive sin of abortion

Pope Francis blesses a child from the popemobile after the celebration of a mass marking the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, on November 20, 2016 at the Vatican. Pope Francis on Sunday brought to a close the Catholic Church's "Year of Mercy," shutting the Holy Door at Saint Peter's after a packed 12 months that saw him raise Mother Teresa to sainthood and re-home Syrian Muslim refugees. / AFP PHOTO / VINCENZO PINTO

Catholic priests now have the power to forgive the sin of abortion, Pope Francis has declared.

Last Sunday, the head of the Catholic Church in the world closed the bronze-panelled Holy Door in Saint Peter's Square, symbolically ending the Jubilee Year of Mercy that spanned from December 8, 2015, to November 20, 2016.