07-09-2015 07:00

Pope Francis is the first non-European pope in 1,300 years. He has shown his tolerance towards topics like homosexuality. The pope said that the Holy Year will start on December 8th, and that mercy will characterise it.

Until now, the Catholic Church automatically excommunicated women who had abortions. The situation will change during the Holy Year. Pope Francis will give all priests the discretion to forgive women who had an abortion.

Tourists outside the Vatican said that this is positive news. One person said that people change, so the church must change, too.

Difficult words: mercy (forgiveness), excommunicate (to punish someone by no longer allowing him or her to be a member of the Roman Catholic church), discretion (the freedom to decide).

You can read the original story and watch the video in the Level 3 section.