Don’t know if I believe it, though; we’re talking about serious sins here.
It’s in Paragraph 18 from the link http://m.vatican.va/content/francescomobile/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco_bolla_20150411_misericordiae-vultus.html
“18. During Lent of this Holy Year, I intend to send out Missionaries of Mercy. They will be a sign of the Church’s maternal solicitude for the People of God, enabling them to enter the profound richness of this mystery so fundamental to the faith. There will be priests to whom I will grant the authority to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See, so that the breadth of their mandate as confessors will be even clearer. “
I don’t see the problem. It’s just during Lent next year only and more importantly they are sent by the Pope himself. Otherwise they wouldn’t have such authority.
I guess the question is: does the Pope have the power to appoint such priests or not? If someone claims “no”, and can prove it, we might have a problem.
If he does have such an ability, to appoint priests to absolve such sins, then I don’t see what the big whoop is.
18. During Lent of this Holy Year, I intend to send out Missionaries of Mercy. They will be a sign of the Church’s maternal solicitude for the People of God, enabling them to enter the profound richness of this mystery so fundamental to the faith. There will be priests to whom I will grant the authority to pardon even those sins reserved to the Holy See, so that the breadth of their mandate as confessors will be even clearer. They will be, above all, living signs of the Father’s readiness to welcome those in search of his pardon. They will be missionaries of mercy because they will be facilitators of a truly human encounter, a source of liberation, rich with responsibility for overcoming obstacles and taking up the new life of Baptism again. They will be led in their mission by the words of the Apostle: “For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all” (Rom 11:32). Everyone, in fact, without exception, is called to embrace the call to mercy. May these Missionaries live this call with the assurance that they can fix their eyes on Jesus, “the merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God” (Heb 2:17).