Pope Francis, who has been making waves by reaching out to atheist communities and being vocal about environmental issues, is allowing priests to absolve the "sin" of abortion.

This shift in the official Vatican stance on abortion may occur during the Holy Year of Mercy, which runs from Dec. 8, 2015 until late November 2016.

As reported by the Associated Press, Francis wrote a letter observing that many women bear "the scar of this agonizing" decision to terminate their pregnancies. If these women seek forgiveness with a "contrite heart" they should receive it.

The Catholic Church, which sees abortion as murder, bases its reasoning on Old Testament scripture. Jeremiah 1:5 in the New American Standard Bible has God addressing the issue by saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

The Pope, who will visit Cuba and the United States from Sept. 19 to Sept. 27, is likely to shake up a lot of assumptions about his faith with his often left-leaning views on many facets of contemporary society.

The Jesuit-trained pontiff has attacked global capitalism by saying that, while globalization has taken many people out of poverty, "it has condemned many others to die of hunger because it's a selective economic system." He has also opened debate on whether divorced Catholics can receive Communion and called for a more merciful stance on the hitherto intolerance of adultery.

Prior to his latest statement regarding absolving the “sin” of abortion, Francis -- who maintains that human life is sacred and must be defended -- has tried to get his followers to loosen up on the issue.

As reported in an AP article, the Pope said that by now the church's teaching on abortion are common knowledge. Because of this, priests "cannot be obsessed" with preaching their well worn anti-abortion doctrine.