While most US dioceses already allow priests to forgive abortion, the pope’s gesture is welcomed as making ‘the mercy of God more accessible’ to womenSunshine spilled through the stained-glass windows of St Mary’s chapel at Boston College, on what was a particularly warm summer’s day. It was cool and serene inside the chapel, where nearly two dozen people, including a campus security guard and a handful of students, assembled for a midday service.The organ sounded and the parishioners rose as the priest approached the striking white marble altar.