Speaking during a press briefing before the first anniversary of the deadly Hamas attack on Israel, Khairallah stressed that private agendas have overshadowed fundamental values such as human dignity and freedom.

Khairallah voiced frustration at the world's silence in the face of ongoing hostilities between Israel and Lebanon.

He remarked, "The world is quiet, it doesn't say anything… It even gives the green light for this violence because there are too many interests at the political and economic level".

These private interests "have nothing to do with our Christian values" he added.

Two-state solution

Khairallah also spoke of the potential role Pope Francis and Vatican diplomacy could play in fostering peace. He referenced Lebanon's historical significance as a model of religious coexistence.

Since 1948, the Holy See has consistently backed a two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict.

"This resolution has always been rejected up until today by the State of Israel, by Israeli politicians" Khairallah said. He insisted that many Israeli citizens want peace and demonstrate for peace. However, "interests have the upper hand".

The bishop also criticised Western nations, particularly the US, for not supporting those suffering in the Middle East.

"I think that this is a message from the synod that we are participating in this year: that the people who are oppressed should have the possibility, the right to decide concerning their future and their destiny" he said.

Peace through forgiveness

Drawing from personal experience, Khairallah highlighted the importance of forgiveness as a path to peace. He recounted how, at the age of five, his parents were killed in their home.

His aunt, a nun, taught him and his siblings to forgive their parents' killers and to "pray for those who killed [their parents] and to seek to forgive throughout your lives".

Khairallah believes that true peace can come only when individuals across all cultures and confessions work together, rather than being driven by political and economic agenda.

He acknowledged the difficulty of forgiveness but insisted it is not impossible, saying "We are capable of forgiving".

Khairallah called on all parties to set aside hatred, vengeance and war, and urged the Church to lead by example, fostering dialogue and mutual respect.

Sources

Crux Now

CathNews New Zealand

Father Felice Palamara (pictured) - who is known for bravely denouncing organised crime in his small town - narrowly missed drinking the lethal mixture when celebrating Mass last Saturday.

Fortunately, he smelt the bleach just before he drank from the poison chalice. He immediately suspended the Mass and called the police.

After investigating, the police found Palamara's altar cruets of water and wine had been laced with bleach.

"I'm sure that this act of intimidation has nothing to do with my parishioners because I have been here for 10 years and I have always had good relations with the people of the parish" Palamara says.

"We don't allow anyone to do harm to the parish. Nobody can stop a town that deserves redemption and that wants to grow."

Mafia connection

The poison chalice attempt occurred in Cessaniti in the southern region of Calabria. That's where the powerful ‘Ndrangheta crime network originated.

The ‘Ndrangheta is believed to be the world's richest organised crime group.

It has made tens of billions of dollars from trafficking cocaine and has ties across Europe.

They are thought to be behind the string of threats and intimidation Palamara has suffered, including numerous death threats by post and email. His car has also been vandalised twice in recent months, he says.

Police are checking potential links to a dead cat found on the steps of a nearby church, and are trawling hours of CCTV footage of that church and Palamara's.

"We aren't sure whether it's organised crime or someone with a grudge against the church, Satanists or just cranks but it's being taken very seriously" a source says. The incident with the bleach could have had serious repercussions had Palamara swallowed it.

'The most likely theory is organised crime and the local mafia but until we know for sure nothing is being ruled out and an open mind is being kept."

Forgiveness rules

Local Bishop Attilio Nostro visited the parish last weekend. He is concerned for parishioners.

"The Diocese is ... suffering because of these intimidating acts which have nothing to do with the Christian life of a parish.

"That is why I am appealing to the Christian community that they do not allow themselves to be discouraged by the violent language.

"We should not give in to this logic and be tempted by anger and discomfort. We must not respond to hate with hate as we know that it's not possible to dialogue in this way."

Palamara says he is not out for vengeance to punish his would-be assassins.

"My vendetta is love, my shield is forgiveness and my armour pity" he says.

"I'm serene, and besides offering pity and forgiveness, I hope that justice is done and there is clarity on these criminal episodes."

Police have been assigned to give Palamara 24/7 protection until the case is solved.

Source

• New York Post
• Daily Mail

'Ae,' te whakahoki.

'Na, kaore ahau. E ki ana tonu ahau ki te whakarihariha mo ratou.'

'I tena ahuatanga,' ka ki tana hoa me te ngawari, 'kei roto i te whareherehere tonu koe.'

"He tangata kaore e taea te whakamurua i etahi atu, ka pakaru i te whakararangi e whai ana ia ano... mo te katoa he hiahia ki te whakamurua," i tuhi a George Herbert (1593-1633).

E rere ana te murunga i roto i te ngakau o te ao tangata; kaore i a ia ka waiho he tangata hei repo o te tukino. Na te mea he pokapu ki to tatou oranga, kaore he mea nui ake i te tirotiro hohonu ki roto i ia ano.

He kupu 'pai' te whakamurunga, i te mea e harikoa ana te katoa kia whakaahuatia hei whakamurunga.

Me whai mana rawa tena kia whakatupato tatou; ka taea e tatou te whakararuraru tuturu kua ngana ki te whakatau pera.

Ka tino whakaiti ahau - ka taea e huna. Ka ngaro ahau i te kaha kia tohu anake.

I roto i nga wiki (nga tau ranei), ka whakaki ahau i te riri puku. Engari kei te wehi ake ahau i tenei wa ki te tohu i te he na te mea ka tino pahu te riri, a, ka wehi ahau i nga pahutanga.

Engari, ka horomia te riri e ahau, 'whakawairua' ahau, a, ka korero ki ahau ano kua whakamurua ahau ia.

Ehara tonu! kaore ahau e murua.

Mahue ke, ka horomia e ahau he rongoa whakamate ka whakamate i taku hononga ki taua tangata. Kua huna te wehi hei whakamurua.

Katahi, ka whai te tangata e tatau ana; ka whai te tangata e whakaae ana ki te whakamurua, engari kaore e wareware; ko te tangata e tirotiro ana tonu mo te mea ki te whakamurua; a, he tokomaha atu.

He tinihanga katoa enei ahua o te whakamurua.

Ko te tohu o te whakamurua tuturu ko te mohio ngangahau he hiahia ahau ki te whakakmurua ano.

Ko tena te mea ka ngaro i nga ahua tinihanga.

"Murua o matou hara, penei i a matou e muru ana i te hunga e hara ana ki a matou."

Ka whakawatea ki te whakamurua i etahi atu i tetahi ara kore whakamarumaru, mehemea ka whakaae tatou kaore a tatou pukapuka i te tika ano - kaore he pukapuka katoa i te tika; ka whai katoa te tangata i tetahi wa ano, me tetahi atu: "whitu tekau whitu"; hei kupu ano, ka mutunga kore.

Forgiveness - Murunga

A former prisoner of a Nazi concentration camp was visiting a friend who had shared the ordeal with him. ‘Have you forgiven the Nazis?' he asked his friend.

‘Yes', came the reply.

‘Well, I haven't. I am still consumed with hatred for them.'

‘In that case,' said the friend gently, ‘they still have you in prison.'

"He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass… for everyone has need to be forgiven," wrote George Herbert (1593-1633).

Forgiveness flows at the heart of human life; without it a human being becomes a cesspool of bitterness.

Since it is central to our life, nothing is more important than looking into it as deeply as possible.

Forgiveness is a ‘nice' word, in the sense that just about everyone would be pleased to be described as forgiving.

That should be enough to put us on the alert; we can suspect straight away that many vicious attitudes have attempted to dress up like it.

Someone does me harm - it could be unknowingly. I lack the courage simply to point it out.

Over the weeks (or years) I become full of silent anger. But I am now more afraid than ever to point out the wrong because anger tends to be explosive, and I am afraid of explosions.

Instead, I swallow it, ‘spiritualise' it and tell myself that I have forgiven him or her.

Of course, I have not.

Instead, I have swallowed a dose of poison that will kill my relationship with that person. Fear has been masquerading as forgiveness.

Then there is the person who keeps count; there is the person who claims to forgive but not forget; the person who is always on the lookout for something to forgive; and a host of others.

All these forms of forgiveness are counterfeit.

The mark of real forgiveness is a lively awareness that I am in need of forgiveness myself.

That is what is missing in the counterfeit forms.

"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who sin against us."

We are set free to forgive others in an uncomplicated way when we accept that our own books are not balanced either - that nobody's books are balanced, that every human being needs another chance, and another: "seventy times seven"; in other words, endlessly.

• Gerard Whiteford is Marist priest; retreat facilitator and spiritual companion for 35 years.

In Islam, forgiveness suggests alignment with Allah.

In Judaism, acts of atonement — or Teshuva — are expected for wrongdoing.

In Christianity, forgiveness is unconditional, by loving one's enemies as oneself.

Throughout human history, religion and science have often been framed as conflicting with one another. Advances in biology, cosmology and neuroscience can challenge traditional religious interpretations.

The tension between what science can measure and what a faith teaches, such as the theory of evolution or stem cell research, can be exacerbated by political concerns rather than underlying theological beliefs and practices.

The modern world is complex, and the challenges we face are multi-faceted and interconnected.

To become more resilient, we must draw upon the best of scientific insight and spiritual wisdom — finding inspiration through religious texts like the Torah, the Bible and the Quran and using the most rigorous scientific methods to shed new light on age-old teachings.

When it comes to the transformative power of forgiveness, scientists and faith leaders agree on its benefits for long-term mental and physical health.

It is clear that the ability to forgive — to transform anger and resentment into hope and healing — can indeed be a restorative and healing act requiring faith.

But forgiveness is also backed by an ever-growing body of scientific evidence, one that refines and extends our faith in new ways.

The distinct realms of science and faith traditions are endeavouring to understand the inner workings of forgiveness and to share that gift of knowledge with people from all walks of life around the world.

A strong example of a faith community practicing forgiveness in the midst of unthinkable violence, loss and deep sorrow is the Amish Community.

The October 2006 shooting at the West Nickel Mines School in the Old Order Amish Community, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, left five female hostages dead along with the gunman.

Before news spread of this tragic event, the Amish elders called on the younger Amish community not to harbour anger or seek revenge. "How did the Amish decide so quickly to extend forgiveness?

That question brought laughter from some Amish people we interviewed," writes Donald B. Kraybill in the book, "Amish Grace, How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy."

"You mean some people actually thought we got together to plan forgiveness? … Forgiveness was a decided issue … it's just what we do as nonresistant people. It was spontaneous. It was automatic. It was not a new thing," quotes Kraybill.

The Old Order Amish Community certainly practiced "decisional" forgiveness — modifying behaviour to reduce direct hostility.

They may have practiced "emotional" forgiveness, using empathy and compassion to transform negative emotions into positive ones.

Forgiveness experts would suggest that while the community's approach is rooted in faith, the combination of decisional and emotional forgiveness is continually reinforced by the value it brings to the individual who forgives.

Forgiveness is not the same as justice, which is an equally important but altogether separate concept.

One doesn't need to reconcile with the offender or repair a relationship.

Forgiveness works even when it is unilateral.

We now know that to receive the most powerful benefits of forgiveness, it requires both the head and heart.

Decisional forgiveness, which accesses the cognitive centres of the brain, must be accompanied by emotional forgiveness, which involves a full range of affective consequences.

In addition, over the past two decades, research has delivered high-quality evidence that forgiveness improves overall health and well-being, down-regulates the body's stress response and improves cardiovascular outcomes.

And for those whose ability to forgive may not be as automatic, scientific knowledge based on tested interventions can support the work of spiritual leaders who seek to help their communities with their forgiveness journeys.

Likewise, scientific research has engaged directly with aspects of faith, demonstrating through empirical studies how belief can enhance a person's ability to forgive.

Across dozens of scientific studies in diverse contexts, the physical and mental health benefits of forgiveness have been validated.

At the Templeton World Charity Foundation, we continue to fund these investigations to increase awareness of the incredible potential for forgiveness to improve lives and have partnered with Religions for Peace to drive a larger campaign for individuals to "Discover Forgiveness."

The campaign aims to share the scientific benefits of forgiveness.

Evidence-backed tools such as the REACH forgiveness model, based on more than 30 studies testing its efficacy, provide a way to practice a set of steps that allow individuals to consider forgiving themselves, others and even God.

There are several tools like these, but the articulated steps, studied and verified, are where scientific methodologies prove to enhance spiritual principles.

Religious leaders around the world have seen firsthand that fostering and practicing forgiveness has the power to transform deep-seated responses to memories and legacies of injustice, conflict and war.

It can liberate people from being imprisoned in their pasts and the long-ingrained mental and emotional conditions created by such legacies.

Faith and spiritual traditions have long guided and inspired us to awaken the best of our human potential, to practice love, mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation and to reshape our destinies.

We invite you to continue to reflect on the journeys of forgiveness. We firmly believe that we all need forgiveness in our lives, families, communities, institutions and nations.

• Dr Andrew Serazin is the co-chair of the Discover Forgiveness campaign and president of the Templeton World Charity Foundation. Prof. Dr Azza Karam is the secretary general of Religions for Peace International.
• First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

Then he smiled and said: 'We probably won't see them again the following week, but that's OK.'

I was pleased to hear that.

It is of the very nature of Catholicism that we welcome people but don't demand they conform to our expectations.

We're not a sectarian or exclusive church. The very word 'catholic' means universal, big, and embracing. I'm reminded of debates at clergy conferences about whether priests should baptise the children of non-practising Catholics. My view has always been 'yes', reach out to people, be like Jesus and welcome them.

But there's a flip side to this.

Earlier this month in La Croix, the bishop of Odienné in West Africa's Ivory Coast, Alain Clément Amiézi, complained that 'People are baptised without becoming Christian, the sacraments are given without evangelising.'

He says that 'the number of faithful who are truly committed to … the virtues of the gospel is infinitesimal.'

Speaking of African converts, he said that just being seen at church is insufficient, and that committed Christians have to break the tribal logic of social convention and be willing to critique societal norms and practices in the light of the gospel.

That requires a spirituality of faith and courage.

My purpose here is not to critique of African Christianity. You can see exactly the same superficiality in the conversion of Europe in the first millennium.

We have an entirely romanticised notion of the medieval 'ages of faith' and the notion of Ireland as 'the island of saints and scholars.'

Recently historians like Anton Wessels and Jan Romein have questioned whether Europe was ever really Christian. Wessels argues that medieval missionaries attempted to convert pagan Europe by Christianising the culture, and transforming it by re-interpreting it.

Jan Romein says that 'medieval Christianity was only a thin veneer,' a superficial overlay with people's basic pagan beliefs remaining unchanged.

This is understandable when mass baptisms followed the conversion of the local ruler or when people like the Saxons under Charlemagne were faced with the choice of either baptism or death.

The church has always embraced people with different levels of commitment

The result was that medieval 'Christendom', the combined power of church and state, dominated people's lives from birth to death. Sure, there were many people in the medieval period deeply committed to the teaching and person of Jesus and to a life of service, but they were the small minority.

Another historian writing in this vein is Frenchman Jean Delumeau, whose work focuses specifically on early modern Catholicism after the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the period that still influences us today.

He says that as late as the seventeenth century, 'the intellectual and psychological climate [of Europeans] … was characterised by a profound unfamiliarity with the basics of Christianity, and by a persistent pagan mentality.'

While Christendom still prevailed, there was a thriving underworld in which sub-Christian beliefs and pagan folk practices flourished.

When enclosure and a population explosion turned the landless peasantry into the urban working class in the emerging industrial cities of the early nineteenth century, their superficial faith quickly disappeared.

Delumeau argues that the church didn't lose the working class; they were never really Christian in the first place.

Now, this may be interesting historically, but you're probably asking: what's the point? The answer: the church has always embraced people with different levels of commitment.

Actually, modern secularism has done Christianity a big favour. First, by closing down Christendom and separating church and state; and secondly, by removing the social supports that made church-going 'respectable'. People can now choose to be or not to be Catholic.

Nowadays, particularly following the sexual abuse crisis and the failure of the church to address the issues that concern our contemporaries, commitment to faith and Catholicism is seen by many as irresponsible, if not unethical.

People deeply committed to the gospel is small

In addition, to many, the church projects an unattractive, unwelcoming image and seems besotted with a narrow range of issues focusing on gender, sex, reproduction and euthanasia, leading to the impression of a closed-door, hard-nosed, uncompromising institution.

The damage done to the church by a 'boots-and-all' approach is terrible.

In this context, we should, like my PP, be welcoming people.

Yes, it's true that the number of people deeply committed to the gospel is small, but that doesn't make us judges of the lives of others.

The word 'Catholic' is derived from the Greek 'katholikos' meaning universal, of the whole, and the entire tradition is the very opposite of sectarian, particularist, or narrow. It is most truly itself when it's embracing and inclusive.

This is where I think Catholic schools have been particularly successful.

With only a tiny number of students coming from committed-Catholic households and increasing numbers of non-Catholic students (in Sydney archdiocesan schools about 25 per cent and in South Australia 44 percent), the schools face a real challenge to form an approach to life that is genuinely Christian and Catholic, yet allows room for freedom of conscience to operate.

They need to form what theologian David Tracy has called a 'catholic imagination.'

That is the whole educational ethos of the school must be founded in the Christ-like values of love, compassion, acceptance and forgiveness and on a genuinely Catholic understanding of inclusivity and freedom of conscience.

For sure, staff, students and parents need to know they are embracing a whole 'package' when they come to a Catholic school, including religious education, liturgy, retreat days and explicitly Catholic values and spirituality.

That said, these are expressed in a welcoming, embracing way; no one should have Catholicism forced on them. And here 'embracing' includes LGBTQI+ students.

Here we're back with my PP last Sunday. We welcome people, whether we see them next week or not. Just like Jesus, really!

• Paul Collins is the author of 15 books, several of which focus on church governance and Australian Catholicism.
• First published in La-Croix International. Republished with permission.

For the first time in a century, a reigning British monarch set foot in what is now the Republic of Ireland but for centuries had been the impoverished vassal of its English overlords.

The royal visit marked the full realization of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, the international agreement between the British and Irish governments that restored home rule to Northern Ireland and brought an end to decades of bloody conflict.

For Queen Elizabeth II, the visit marked another milestone.

After nearly 60 years on the throne and millions of miles travelled, she had never visited the Republic of Ireland.

Yet she was determined to make the trip, motivated in large part by her sense of Christian duty to reconcile the estranged, to be a healer of the breach.

"God sent into the world a unique person—neither a philosopher nor a general (important though they are)—but a Saviour, with the power to forgive," she said in her Christmas broadcast that year.

"Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships, and can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God's love."

Forgiveness, of course, is much more than a feeling.

It is a series of small, often painful acts that culminate in a conversion of hearts that creates the very possibility of peace.

Queen Elizabeth II put forgiveness into action.

"With the benefit of historical hindsight, we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all," she said at the state dinner hosted by the Irish president, Mary McAleese.

"To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past, I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy."

That sympathy runs deep, for the queen's visit to the republic was not just a moment of reconciliation between two long-estranged peoples, but her personal act of forgiveness.

When Lord Louis Mountbatten was killed by agents of the Irish Republican Army in the summer of 1979, the queen suffered the loss of one of the most beloved members of her family, the uncle of her husband and the godfather of her first son.

It was a truly extraordinary moment, therefore, when she laid a wreath at a memorial garden in Dublin dedicated to the memory of "all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom."

She had somehow found the courage within her to forgive, to rebuild, to begin anew.

It is from numberless such personal acts of courage and charity that peace has, at last, come to Ireland.

As important as big international agreements are, they are not the true stuff of reconciliation. Peace happens when hearts meet. Continue reading

• This column appeared in the April 18, 2016, issue of America.

For him, the smell of burned homes and lives is tied to the metaphoric "smell of sheep".

Francis says priests need to learn what suffering smells like. It will be coming from human lives and they need to look after them, in the same way as shepherds care for their flocks.

"Every city has its own smell of suffering. It can't be described. The church here must become saturated with this smell and stay close by with different ways of helping," says Father Oleksandr Khalayim.

"The real church is a flexible church" that can be wherever it is needed.

Khalayim, a military chaplain and missionary of mercy, lives near the borders of Moldova and Romania.

Bringing mercy and forgiveness as a chaplain to a war zone requires "dialogue before forgiveness," he says.

"Forgiveness must be accepted and it is a long journey" that may take "three or four generations."

"For me, right now it is hard to talk about forgiveness if bombs keep coming, if children are still being killed, if our cities are still being bombed.

"To forgive what women and children have suffered is truly difficult."

He acknowledges that as Christians we must talk about forgiveness. At the same time, exploiting the word "forgiveness" is not acceptable, as forgiveness comes with responsibility.

"God forgave not just with words but with his heart. It will be necessary to have a long period of care for the heart," he says.

When he's speaking to soldiers in his role as a missionary of mercy, Khalayim says he explains that mercy means asking them not to kill if it is possible.

That's not easy for those on the frontlines defending their country.

"Even this is mercy — to defend your home and family," Khalayim says.

When the war broke out, he says he chose to help like a shepherd by being close to people — soldiers, volunteers and especially the elderly, "so no one feels alone."

The church in Ukraine smells of burning, war and death, he says.

In Bucha and Gostomel, there is "the stench of things scorched" and, in Chernihiv, it smells like "abandonment with everything destroyed" and people left on their own and helpless.

"One person couldn't move for five days, no one could help. The only thing she could do was get water from the home heating radiator to drink. That's how she survived."

Solidarity and assistance to Ukraine are important, Khalayim says.

People who will seek out the truth are necessary as well, he adds.

"The enemy hides behind many lies and propaganda. The truth cries out, there is no need to be afraid to tell the truth."

At the same time, Khalayim admits exposing the truth may come at a cost and result in losing material security or one's own life.

Source

• NCR
• CBS News

The purpose of their visit was to urge Francis to publicly apologize for the abuse that their ancestors - and even some of them - suffered at residential schools run by the Catholic Church.

But can a pope really ask for forgiveness when it's been the Vatican's practice to leave the appropriateness of such apologies up to local bishops? And in what cases have popes issued their own apologies in the past?

Paul VI was the first Roman Pontiff to ask forgiveness of past wrongs. He did so in 1965 during a visit to Jerusalem when he and Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople made an important "gesture of justice and mutual pardon" through a joint Catholic-Orthodox declaration.

The two Church leaders expressed "regret" for the "offensive words" and "reprehensible gestures" that marked a "sad period" culminating in their predecessors' reciprocal excommunications in 1054.

"The words are not the same as today, we do not speak of apologies, but we must take into account that it was 60 years ago," explained Father Bernard Ardura, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.

"This declaration was indeed a request for mutual forgiveness," he pointed out.
Slave trade

Two decades later, John Paul II made another type of apology during a visit to Cameroon.

During a meeting in 1985 with intellectuals and Catholic students in Yaoundé, the Polish pope addressed the painful history of slavery.

"Throughout history, people belonging to Christian nations have unfortunately not always behaved well, and we ask for forgiveness from our African brothers who have suffered so much, for example, from the slave trade," he said.

It repeated those sentiments during a 1992 visit to Senegal, but this time his words were addressed to God.

"From this African sanctuary of black pain, we implore heaven's forgiveness," John Paul II said on the island of Gorée, a historic site of the French slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries.

"These men, women and children were victims of a shameful trade, in which people who were baptized, but not living their faith, took part," he continued.

"How can we forget the enormous suffering inflicted, in disregard of the most basic human rights, on the populations deported from the African continent? How can we forget the human lives destroyed by slavery," the late pope said.
The turning point of the year 2000

John Paul II continued this work of critical examination of the past. In particular, he gave his personal backing to a 1998 symposium on the Inquisition.

That same year he also embraced, as his own, a statement on anti-Semitism that was issued by the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee.

The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 marked a very important step in this process.

At a Mass in Rome on the March 12 "Day of Forgiveness", the pope implored "divine forgiveness for the sins of all believers".

"Let us forgive and ask forgiveness," John Paul II said.

In particular, he implored forgiveness for "the divisions which have occurred among Christians".

"The recognition of past wrongs serves to reawaken our consciences to the compromises of the present, opening the way to conversion for everyone," he said on that occasion.

"We must ask ourselves what our responsibilities are regarding atheism, religious indifference, secularism, ethical relativism, the violations of the right to life, disregard for the poor in many countries," he insisted.

This request also went hand in hand with the Church's "forgiveness" of those who had persecuted Christians throughout history.

"At the same time, as we confess our sins, let us forgive the sins committed by others against us," John Paul said.
"Distinguishing between error and those who commit it"

Other apologies would follow, including in the current pontificate.

For example, Pope Francis asked forgiveness of Italian Protestants in 2015 and specifically begged "forgiveness for the sin committed by those who have gone before us" during a 2017 symposium on Luther that was held at the Vatican.

Father Ardura said this move towards asking for pardon was all made possible by John XXIII.

"In his encyclical Pacem in terris, published in 1963, he clearly states that a distinction must always be made between error and those who commit it, 'even in the case of those who err regarding the truth or are led astray as a result of their inadequate knowledge, in matters either of religion or of the highest ethical standards'," the historian explained.

By restating this ancient distinction in a major papal document, the late Italian pope opened the possibility for the Church to ask for forgiveness.

"It is therefore possible to condemn the Church's error without condemning the Church itself," Father Ardura noted.

But he said this should be something that is done only rarely, otherwise it will lose its value.

"The pope cannot ask for forgiveness for everything, otherwise it would considerably dilute the significance of these requests," he said.

"That's how we became capable of distancing ourselves 70 years ago. But the request for forgiveness is only one step," the Vatican historian continued.

"After forgiveness comes reconciliation. And that can still take years."

Source

• La Croix
• Image: Catholic News Agency

I was getting ready to leave Rome and he was one of the last and most important interviews for the book.

Because of illness, he had to cancel our first appointment and then graciously rescheduled me for a time when most Vatican officials were taking their siestas.

At the end of the interview, I asked for his blessing — something I only did with two other Vatican officials — because I sensed I was in the presence of a holy man.

But I also knew I was in the presence of a man who, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, had done irreparable harm to theological discussion in the church.

There were scores of theologians who had been investigated and silenced by his congregation during the papacy of John Paul II.

Articles and books had been censored.

Professors had been removed from their jobs. Even more, had practiced self-censorship to avoid harassment.

Those targeted included liberation theologians in Latin America, moral theologians in the United States and Europe, and anyone writing about the priesthood.

Some of them were my close friends.

I lived with two Jesuits who spent most of their sabbatical defending themselves from attacks by Rome.

These were not minor figures.

One, Michael Buckley, had worked as the chief staff person for the U.S. bishops' committee on doctrine; the other, David Hollenbach, had helped the bishops write their pastoral letter on the economy.

Ratzinger's problem was that he treated theologians like they were his graduate students who needed correction and guidance.

As a result, my last question to the cardinal was, "Granted the history of this congregation and the church in relation with certain theologians — I am thinking of some who were silenced before Vatican II and then were later acknowledged — do you ever worry that you may be … ?"

He laughed and responded, "Well, every day we make an examination of conscience if we are doing good or not. But finally, only our Lord can judge." In short, you do the best you can.

My own difficulties with Ratzinger began shortly after I became editor of America Magazine, a journal of opinion published by U.S. Jesuits.

When I became editor in June 1998, I wanted to make America a journal of discussion and debate on the important issues facing the church.

I knew there were limits to what we could publish.

There would be no editorials in favour of married priests, women priests or changing the church teaching on birth control. But I thought we could have discussion and debate in articles that did not necessarily represent the views of the magazine.

That summer the Vatican issued documents on the authority of bishops' conferences and on ecumenism and interreligious dialogue.

I asked around to find the best canon lawyers and theologians to write about these documents and published their articles.

I did not tell them what to say.

For the most part, they were polite responses that started by saying what they liked about the documents followed by where they thought the documents failed.

Over my seven years as editor, I tried to get writers who would represent different views in the church.

I published every submission from a bishop (except one).

When Cardinal Walter Kasper submitted an article critical of Ratzinger's ecclesiology, I immediately requested and got a response for publication from him.

I even invited Raymond Burke, then archbishop of St Louis, to explain his position on denying Communion to pro-choice politicians.

But I also published responses from a prominent canon lawyer and the Catholic representative he had targeted.

We also published numerous articles on the sex abuse crisis.

Within a couple of years, Ratzinger, through the Jesuit superior general in Rome, was signalling his unhappiness with the magazine.

It became clear that in Rome's view a Catholic journal of opinion should only express one opinion — the Vatican's. Every document and word from the Vatican should be greeted with uncritical enthusiasm.

Conservative Catholic voices in the United States were also attacking the magazine for not being obedient to the pope.

Interestingly, many of these same voices are now criticizing Pope Francis in a tone I would never have taken with anyone in the papacy.

At one point, the Vatican wanted to impose a committee of bishops as censors for the magazine.

Luckily, Cardinal Avery Dulles and others came to our defence and the idea was tabled.

The final nail in the coffin was a series of articles on gay marriage, starting with one strongly opposed to it by a philosophy professor from the Catholic University of America.

In response to this article, we received an unsolicited article supporting gay marriage by a theology professor from Boston College.

I knew this would be controversial, so I allowed the first author to respond to the response, and thus have the last word. That was not good enough.

Soon after, the word came from Ratzinger that Reese had to go.

For various reasons, the message was not communicated to me until after he was elected pope.

I was not surprised when I heard.

I had already concluded that it was time to go.

Granted my history with Ratzinger, now that he was pope, it was best for the Jesuits and the magazine that I bow out. And although I loved the job, I was tired after seven years of looking over my shoulder.

True, I was angry and depressed, but it soon became clear that once I was no longer editor, no one in Rome cared what I said or wrote.

I was free.

I have enjoyed my post-America career as a writer for Religion News Service and the National Catholic Reporter. And the election of Pope Francis lifted my depression.

I am getting old, and I now want to forgive Benedict.

I want to let it go.

I don't think we really grow up until we are able to forgive our parents for their failures.

Benedict has not asked for my forgiveness.

I doubt he remembers who I am.

He probably still believes what he did to me and to numerous theologians was the right thing for the church, but I still want to forgive him.

I cannot insist that others forgive him, especially those who were abused by priests.

In the early days of the crisis, he was like every other prelate, but he got better over time and faster than did many of his peers.

He ultimately helped the church improve its response to the abuse crisis.

But my experience is in no way comparable to the pain they suffered.

In short, I see Benedict as a holy but flawed individual who did the best he was capable of.

For all of us, that is the best we can say, so we should forgive as we would want to be forgiven.

In the end, as he said, "finally, only our Lord can judge."

• Thomas Reese SJ is a senior analyst at Religion News Service, and a former columnist at National Catholic Reporter, and a former editor-in-chief of the weekly Catholic magazine America. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

The document focuses on fraternity and social friendship as the ways to build a better, more just and peaceful world - with the contribution of all: people and institutions.

The official summary follows, with a link to download the full document at the end.

What are the great ideals but also the tangible ways to advance for those who wish to build a more just and fraternal world in their ordinary relationships, in social life, politics and institutions?

This is mainly the question that Fratelli tutti is intended to answer: the Pope describes it as a "Social Encyclical" which borrows the title of the "Admonitions" of Saint Francis of Assisi, who used these words to "address his brothers and sisters and proposed to them a way of life marked by the flavour of the Gospel" (1).

The Poverello "did not wage a war of words aimed at imposing doctrines; he simply spread the love of God", the Pope writes, and "he became a father to all and inspired the vision of a fraternal society" (2-4).

The Encyclical aims to promote a universal aspiration toward fraternity and social friendship. Beginning with our common membership in the human family, from the acknowledgement that we are brothers and sisters because we are the children of one Creator, all in the same boat, and hence we need to be aware that in a globalized and interconnected world, only together can we be saved.

Human Fraternity

Fraternity is to be encouraged not only in words, but in deeds.

Deeds made tangible in a "better kind of politics", which is not subordinated to financial interests, but to serving the common good, able to place the dignity of every human being at the centre and assure work to everyone, so that each one can develop his or her own abilities.

A politics which, removed from populism, is able to find solutions to what attacks fundamental human rights and which aims to definitively eliminate hunger and trafficking.

At the same time, Pope Francis underscores that a more just world is achieved by promoting peace, which is not merely the absence of war; it demands "craftsmanship", a job that involves everyone.

Linked to truth, peace and reconciliation must be "proactive"; they must work toward justice through dialogue, in the name of mutual development.

This begets the Pontiff's condemnation of war, the "negation of all rights" and is no longer conceivable even in a hypothetically "justified" form, because nuclear, chemical and biological weapons already have enormous repercussions on innocent civilians.

There is also a strong rejection of the death penalty, defined as "inadmissible", and a central reflection on forgiveness, connected to the concepts of remembrance and justice: to forgive does not mean to forget, the Pontiff writes, nor to give up defending one's rights to safeguard one's dignity, which is a gift from God.

In the background of the Encyclical is the Covid-19 pandemic which, Francis reveals, "unexpectedly erupted" as he "was writing this letter". But the global health emergency has helped demonstrate that "no one can face life in isolation" and that the time has truly come to "dream, then, as a single human family" in which we are "brothers and sisters all" (7-8).

Global problems, global actions

Opening with a brief introduction and divided into eight chapters, the Encyclical gathers - as the Pope himself explains - many of his statements on fraternity and social friendship, arranged, however, "in a broader context of reflection" and complemented by "a number of letters, documents" sent to Francis by "many individuals and groups throughout the world" (5).

In the first chapter, "Dark clouds over a closed world", the document reflects on the many distortions of the contemporary era: the manipulation and deformation of concepts such as democracy, freedom, justice; the loss of the meaning of the social community and history; selfishness and indifference toward the common good; the prevalence of a market logic based on profit and the culture of waste; unemployment, racism, poverty; the disparity of rights and its aberrations such as slavery, trafficking, women subjugated and then forced to abort, organ trafficking (10-24).

It deals with global problems that call for global actions, emphasizes the Pope, also sounding the alarm against a "culture of walls" that favours the proliferation of organized crime, fuelled by fear and loneliness (27-28).

Moreover, today we observe a deterioration of ethics (29), contributed to, in a certain way, by the mass media which shatter respect for others and eliminate all discretion, creating isolated and self-referential virtual circles, in which freedom is an illusion and dialogue is not constructive (42-50).

Love builds bridges: the Good Samaritan

To many shadows, however, the Encyclical responds with a luminous example, a herald of hope: the Good Samaritan.

The second chapter, "A stranger on the road", is dedicated to this figure.

In it, the Pope emphasizes that, in an unhealthy society that turns its back on suffering and that is "illiterate" in caring for the frail and vulnerable (64-65), we are all called - just like the Good Samaritan - to become neighbours to others (81), overcoming prejudices, personal interests, historic and cultural barriers.

We all, in fact, are co-responsible in creating a society that is able to include, integrate and lift up those who have fallen or are suffering (77).

Love builds bridges and "we were made for love" (88), the Pope adds, particularly exhorting Christians to recognize Christ in the face of every excluded person (85).

The principle of the capacity to love according to "a universal dimension" (83) is also resumed in the third chapter, "Envisaging and engendering an open world".

In this chapter Francis exhorts us to go "'outside' the self" in order to find "a fuller existence in another" (88), opening ourselves up to the other according to the dynamism of charity which makes us tend toward "universal fulfilment" (95).

In the background - the Encyclical recalls - the spiritual stature of a person's life is measured by love, which always "takes first place" and leads us to seek better for the life of the other, far from all selfishness (92-93).

Rights have no borders

A fraternal society, therefore, will be one that promotes educating in dialogue in order to defeat the "virus" of "radical individualism" (105) and to allow everyone to give the best of themselves.

Beginning with protection of the family and respect for its "primary and vital mission of education" (114).

There are two 'tools' in particular to achieve this type of society: benevolence, or truly wanting good for the other (112), and solidarity which cares for fragility and is expressed in service to people and not to ideologies, fighting against poverty and inequality (115).

The right to live with dignity cannot be denied to anyone, the Pope again affirms, and since rights have no borders, no one can remain excluded, regardless of where they are born (121).

In this perspective the Pontiff also calls us to consider "an ethics of international relations" (126), because every country also belongs to foreigners and the goods of the territory cannot be denied to those who are in need and come from another place.

Thus, the natural right to private property will be secondary to the principal of the universal destination of created goods (120).

The Encyclical also places specific emphasis on the issue of foreign debt: subject to the principle that it must be paid, it is hoped nonetheless that this does not compromise the growth and subsistence of the poorest countries (126).

Migrants: global governance for long-term planning

Meanwhile, part of the second and the entire fourth chapter are dedicated to the theme of migration, the latter, entitled "A heart open to the whole world".

With their lives "at stake" (37), fleeing from war, persecution, natural catastrophes, unscrupulous trafficking, ripped from their communities of origin, migrants are to be welcomed, protected, supported and integrated.

Unnecessary migration needs to be avoided, the Pontiff affirms, by creating concrete opportunities to live with dignity in the countries of origin. But at the same time, we need to respect the right to seek a better life elsewhere.

In receiving countries, the right balance will be between the protection of citizens' rights and the guarantee of welcome and assistance for migrants (38-40).

Specifically, the Pope points to several "indispensable steps, especially in response to those who are fleeing grave humanitarian crises": to increase and simplify the granting of visas; to open humanitarian corridors; to assure lodging, security and essential services; to offer opportunities for employment and training; to favour family reunification; to protect minors; to guarantee religious freedom and promote social inclusion.

The Pope also calls for establishing in society the concept of "full citizenship", and to reject the discriminatory use of the term "minorities" (129-131).

What is needed above all - the document reads - is global governance, an international collaboration for migration which implements long-term planning, going beyond single emergencies (132), on behalf of the supportive development of all peoples based on the principle of gratuitousness.

In this way, countries will be able to think as "human family" (139-141).

Others who are different from us are a gift and an enrichment for all, Francis writes, because differences represent an opportunity for growth (133-135).

A healthy culture is a welcoming culture that is able to open up to others, without renouncing itself, offering them something authentic. As in a polyhedron - an image dear to the Pontiff - the whole is more than its single parts, but the value of each one of them is respected (145-146).

Politics: valuable form of charity

The theme of the fifth chapter is "A better kind of politics", which represents one of the most valuable forms of charity because it is placed at the service of the common good (180) and recognizes the importance of people, understood as an open category, available for discussion and dialogue (160).

In a certain sense, this is the populism indicated by Francis, which counters that "populism" which ignores the legitimacy of the notion of "people", by attracting consensuses in order to exploit them for its own service and fomenting selfishness in order to increase its own popularity (159).

But a better politics is also one that protects work, an "essential dimension of social life", and seeks to ensure everyone the opportunity to develop their own abilities (162).

The best help to a poor person, the Pontiff explains, is not just money, which is a provisional remedy, but rather allowing him or her to have a dignified life through work.

The true anti-poverty strategy does not simply aim to contain or render indigents inoffensive, but to promote them in the perspective of solidarity and subsidiarity (187).

The task of politics, moreover, is to find a solution to all that attacks fundamental human rights, such as social exclusion; the marketing of organs, tissues, weapons and drugs; sexual exploitation; slave labour; terrorism and organized crime.

The Pope makes an emphatic appeal to definitively eliminate human trafficking, a "source of shame for humanity", and hunger, which is "criminal" because food is "an inalienable right" (188-189).

The marketplace, by itself, cannot resolve every problem. It requires a reform of the UN

The politics we need, Francis also underscores, is one that says 'no' to corruption, to inefficiency, to the malign use of power, to the lack of respect for laws (177).

It is a politics centred on human dignity and not subjected to finance because "the marketplace, by itself, cannot resolve every problem": the "havoc" wreaked by financial speculation has demonstrated this (168).

Hence, popular movements have taken on particular relevance: as true "social poets" with that "torrent of moral energy", they must be engaged in social, political and economic participation, subject, however, to greater coordination.

In this way - the Pope states - it will be possible to go beyond a Policy "with" and "of" the poor (169).

Another hope present in the Encyclical regards the reform of the UN: in the face of the predominance of the economic dimension which nullifies the power of the individual state, in fact, the task of the United Nations will be to give substance to the concept of a "family of nations" working for the common good, the eradication of indigence and the protection of human rights.

Tireless recourse "to negotiation, mediation and arbitration" - the Papal Document states - the UN must promote the force of law rather than the law of force, by favouring multilateral accords that better protect even the weakest states (173-175).

The miracle of kindness

From the sixth chapter, "Dialogue and friendship in society", further emerges the concept of life as the "art of encounter" with everyone, even with the world's peripheries and with original peoples, because "each of us can learn something from others.

No one is useless and no one is expendable" (215).

True dialogue, indeed, is what allows one to respect the point of view of others, their legitimate interests and, above all, the truth of human dignity.

Relativism is not a solution - we read in the Encyclical - because without universal principals and moral norms that prohibit intrinsic evil, laws become merely arbitrary impositions (206).

From this perspective, a particular role falls to the media which, without exploiting human weaknesses or drawing out the worst in us, must be directed toward generous encounter and to closeness with the least, promoting proximity and the sense of human family (205).

Then, of particular note, is the Pope's reference to the miracle of "kindness", an attitude to be recovered because it is a star "shining in the midst of darkness" and "frees us from the cruelty … the anxiety … the frantic flurry of activity" that prevail in the contemporary era.

A kind person, writes Francis, creates a healthy coexistence and opens paths in places where exasperation burns bridges (222-224).

The art of peace and the importance of forgiveness

The value and promotion of peace is reflected on in the seventh chapter, "Paths of renewed encounter", in which the Pope underlines that peace is connected to truth, justice and mercy.

Far from the desire for vengeance, it is "proactive" and aims at forming a society based on service to others and on the pursuit of reconciliation and mutual development (227-229).

In a society, everyone must feel "at home", the Pope writes.

Thus, peace is an "art" that involves and regards everyone and in which each one must do his or her part. Peace-building is "an open-ended endeavour, a never-ending task", the Pope continues, and thus it is important to place the human person, his or her dignity and the common good at the centre of all activity (230-232).

Forgiveness is linked to peace: we must love everyone, without exception - the Encyclical reads - but loving an oppressor means helping him to change and not allowing him to continue oppressing his neighbour.

On the contrary: one who suffers an injustice must vigorously defend his rights in order to safeguard his dignity, a gift of God (241-242).

Forgiveness does not mean impunity, but rather, justice and remembrance, because to forgive does not mean to forget, but to renounce the destructive power of evil and the desire for revenge.

Never forget "horrors" like the Shoah, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, persecutions and ethnic massacres - exhorts the Pope.

They must be remembered always, anew, so as not be become anaesthetized and to keep the flame of collective conscience alive. It is just as important to remember the good, and those who have chosen forgiveness and fraternity (246-252).

Never again war, a failure of humanity

Part of the seventh chapter, then, focuses on war: it is not "a ghost from the past" - Francis emphasizes - "but a constant threat", and it represents "the negation of all rights", "a failure of politics and of humanity", and "a stinging defeat before the forces of evil" which lies in their "abyss".

Moreover, due to nuclear chemical and biological weapons that strike many innocent civilians, today we can no longer think, as in the past, of the possibility of a "just war", but we must vehemently reaffirm: "Never again war!"

And considering that we are experiencing a "world war fought piecemeal", because all conflicts are interconnected, the total elimination of nuclear arms is "a moral and humanitarian imperative".

With the money invested in weapons, the Pope suggests instead the establishment of a global fund for the elimination of hunger (255-262).

The death penalty inadmissible, to be abolished

Francis expresses just as clear a position with regard to the death penalty: it is inadmissible and must be abolished worldwide, because "not even a murderer loses his personal dignity" - the Pope writes - "and God himself pledges to guarantee this".

From here, two exhortations: do not view punishment as vindictive, but rather as part of a process of healing and of social reintegration, and to improve prison conditions, with respect for the human dignity of the inmates, also considering that "a life sentence is a secret death penalty" (263-269).

There is emphasis on the necessity to respect "the sacredness of life" (283) where today "some parts of our human family, it appears, can be readily sacrificed", such as the unborn, the poor, the disabled and the elderly (18).

Guarantee religious freedom

In the eighth and final chapter, the Pontiff focuses on "Religions at the service of fraternity in our world" and again emphasizes that violence has no basis in religious convictions, but rather in their deformities.

Thus, "deplorable" acts, such as acts of terrorism, are not due to religion but to erroneous interpretations of religious texts, as well as "policies linked to hunger, poverty, injustice, oppression".

Terrorism must not be supported with either money or weapons, much less with media coverage, because it is an international crime against security and world peace, and as such must be condemned (282-283).

At the same time the Pope underscores that a journey of peace among religions is possible and that it is, therefore, necessary to guarantee religious freedom, a fundamental human right for all believers (279).

The Encyclical reflects, in particular, on the role of the Church: she does not "restrict her mission to the private sphere", it states.

She does not remain at the margins of society and, while not engaging in politics, however, she does not renounce the political dimension of life itself.

Attention to the common good and concern for integral human development, in fact, concern humanity, and all that is human concerns the Church, according to evangelical principals (276-278).

Lastly, reminding religious leaders of their role as "authentic mediators" who expend themselves in order to build peace, Francis quotes the "Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together", which he signed on 4 February 2019 in Abu Dhabi, along with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyib: from that milestone of interreligious dialogue, the Pontiff returns to the appeal that, in the name of human fraternity, dialogue be adopted as the way, common cooperation as conduct, and mutual knowledge as method and standard (285).

Blessed Charles de Foucauld, "the universal brother"

The Encyclical concludes by remembering Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Gandhi and above all Blessed Charles de Foucauld, a model for everyone of what it means to identify with the least in order to become "the universal brother" (286-287).

The last lines of the Document are given to two prayers: one "to the Creator" and the other an "Ecumenical Christian Prayer", so that the heart of mankind may harbour "a spirit of fraternity".

Fratelli Tutti - Encyclical of the Holy Father, Francis, on the fraternity and social friendship

The encyclical calls for a new kind of politics and emphasises social friendship as a way to build a more just and peaceful world.

It encourages the contribution of all people and institutions and seeks to build a global movement of fraternity.

In many cases the encyclical is a condensation of the issues Francis has tacked during his pontificate.

The document covers a range of topics, for example, from digital culture, migrants, economics, war and nuclear weapons, the death penalty, religious freedom, peace, forgiveness, the markeplace, Christian charity, love, trafficking, racism, unemployment, excessive profits, culture walls and the role of christians in politics.

Among many of the topics Francis traverses, he observes that currently humanity seems to be the midst of a worrying regression and is intensely polarized.

He says people are talking and debating without listening, and global society seems to have devolved into a "permanent state of disagreement and confrontation."

In some countries, leaders are using a "strategy of ridicule" and relentless criticism, spreading despair as a way to "dominate and gain control," Francis observes.

Although beginning to write the encyclical before the outbreak of COVID-19, Francis argues the world's response to the crisis shows the depth of humanity's mistrust and fractures.

In this light, Francis says that Christians have a key role in political life and despite all the difficulties should not bow out of political engagement.

Christians, he said, must act at a local level to build relationships of trust and assistance and support politicians and political platforms that promote the common good.

"Whereas individuals can help others in need when they join together in initiating social processes of fraternity and justice for all, they enter the ‘field of charity at its most vast, namely political charity,'" he said.

Getting practical, Pope Francis explained that "if someone helps an elderly person cross a river, that is a fine act of charity. The politician, on the other hand, builds a bridge, and that too is an act of charity" but on a larger scale.

Focussing on one of society's most visible items of mistrust, Francis dwells on the fractious issue of immigration, saying that unnecessary migration needs to be avoided by creating concrete opportunities to live with dignity in the countries of origin. But at the same time, humanity needs to respect the right to seek a better life elsewhere.

Focussing on receiving countries, Francis says there needs to be a right balance between the protection of citizens' rights and the guarantee of welcome and assistance for migrants.

Saving harsh words for politicians who have "fomented and exploited" fear over immigration, Francis observes a healthy culture is a welcoming culture, one that does not have to renounce itself.

The pope observes that despite all our hyper-connectivity, we are witnesses to a global fragmentation making it difficult to resolve problems that affect us all.

The encyclical also offers some developments to Catholic social teaching, including on war where he writes that due to nuclear chemical and biological weapons that strike many innocent civilians, today we can no longer think, as in the past, of the possibility of a "just war", but we must vehemently reaffirm: "Never again war!"

The pope also expands another area of Catholic social teaching; the death penalty.

Francis says that not even a murderer loses their personal dignity and the death penalty must be abolished worldwide.

Sources

• Washington Post
• Catholic News Service
• Image: Our Father's House Soup Kitchen

Guyger claims she entered Jean's apartment by accident (she lived on the floor above) and, mistaking him for a burglar, shot him dead. Jean was eating a bowl of ice cream.

Following Guyger's sentencing, Jean's 18-year-old brother Brandt embraced Guyger.

"I forgive you," he told her; "I love you as a person, and I don't wish anything bad on you."

Most of us would call this a model act of mercy.

Yet, astonishingly, many Americans quickly took to social media expressing their disapproval of Brandt.

One newspaper columnist called it a "disappointing display of yet another person of color too ready to absolve a white person who harmed them."

Apparently, forgiveness is no longer a virtue in this country.

In the case of Guyger and the Jeans, there are complicating factors.

Guyger, a white woman, was sentenced to ten years in prison for sneaking into the home of an unarmed black man and killing him.

Many believe her sentence to be unacceptably light.

"I think this whole act of forgiveness has gotten black people where they are in this country right now," Ryan Williams, a black man, told The Washington Post.

African American historian Jemar Tisby similarly argued that "black people, when they experience injustice, there's almost an expectation that we will immediately forgive and therefore can sort of move on."

Not so, says Tisby: "We have a right to be angry, a right to grieve, and a right to want justice."

This rising reticence about forgiveness goes beyond racial politics.

Recently, television personality Ellen DeGeneres was castigated by left-wing celebrities and activists for sitting next to former president George W. Bush at a Dallas Cowboys game.

As one of the first celebrities in Hollywood to "come out" as same-sex attracted, Degeneres has long been a progressive icon.

Yet even that didn't get her a free pass.

Actor Mark Ruffalo of Spotlightfame tweeted: "Sorry, until George W. Bush is brought to justice for the crimes of the Iraq War, (including American-lead [sic] torture, Iraqi deaths & displacement, and the deep scars—emotional & otherwise—inflicted on our military that served his folly), we can't even begin to talk about kindness."

Meanwhile, our current cultural distemper is one in which any celebrity or politician, dead or alive, risks having some comment or action revisited for public censure—the so-called "cancel culture."

Black comedian Kevin Hart was pressured to step down from hosting the Oscars because of a 10-year-old tweet that disparaged homosexuality.

Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray was publicly censured for several homophobic tweets he wrote when he was 15 years old.

And, of course, we can't forget the rapid return of that ancient Roman practice, damnatio memoriae—the "condemnation of memory," where any figure in American history found to have violated modern standards of political correctness may be unceremoniously purged from public memory.

We as a nation are rapidly dispensing with forgiveness.

In its stead, we favor resentment, vengeance, and even hatred.

This cultivation of animosity is a thoroughly un-American trait, and one that seriously threatens the Christian foundations of our republic.

Christ himself, more than anyone else in human history, had a right to bitterness and revenge.

His own people betrayed him to an oppressive foreign regime, who then visited the full force of government-sanctioned violence upon him.

Mocked, scourged, stripped, and crucified, this sorrowful servant refused to indulge in hate.

Rather, as he asphyxiated on the Cross, he gasped those unforgettable words: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Continue reading

• Image: YouTube/KENS 5

It's also one of the most unfashionable virtues going around, at least in the public discourse, as it's rare to see either Christians or non-Christians urging forgiveness.

This is understandable.

In a world full of pain and suffering inflicted by human beings upon other human beings, extending forgiveness to anyone who is seen to have harmed others is hardly a high priority for most people.

Compassion for those who have been wronged is more important than compassion for those doing the wronging.

And we are indeed exhorted regularly to show compassion— for refugees, for the poor, for the disabled, for victims of violence and oppression.

This is no bad thing — the more compassion the better, and if we can make caring for our fellow humans the rule, we will create a better world.

Compassion is easy.

There is no great challenge in opening your heart to those who are suffering, or to anyone you see as an 'ally'.

What is difficult, though, is showing compassion for people who aren't on our side.

Forgiving our enemies, or doers of horrendous deeds. Who can forgive a murderer? Who can feel compassion for a brute?

It's hard, but many would say that's no problem, as there's no point in trying it anyway.

According to one strand of thought — and an eternally popular one — forgiving wrongdoers is a bad idea and will lead to a worse society.

If we forgive, goes this thinking, we excuse, and we fail to send the message that what that person has done is wrong.

Why should we forgive? Because Jesus said so — but I don't believe that, of course.

The reason I believe we should forgive is that it makes us better.

For me, forgiving doesn't mean letting anyone off the hook: criminals can still be punished, people can still be held accountable for words and deeds that hurt other people.

But we can punish and inflict consequences, while still leaving open the possibility of forgiveness. Continue reading

• Ben Pobjie is an Atheist and writer from Melbourne, whose work has appeared in the Age, Crikey, Meanjin, ABC, SBS and others. He is the author of the books Error Australis and Aussie Aussie Aussie.
• Image: SMH

Born in Gijon, Spain in 1959, he joined the Society of Jesus he was stationed at refugee camps near the Thai border from 1984-1988.

Since 2000 he has been the Apostolic Prefect of Battambang, a city on the banks of the Sangkae River in northwestern Cambodia.

Figaredo recently told UCAN News that conversions to Christianity, usually Protestantism, were quite common among former Khmer Rouge soldiers.

He said former Khmer Rouge soldiers used to come to his church.

Some were haunted by the ghosts of the past, hinting at the atrocities they witnessed or participated in."They were Catholics but also former Khmer Rouge," he said.

Some would bring their kids while they stayed outside. I'd invite them in but something was stopping them. They would say things like, 'I did some bad thing so I can't come in yet'," he recalls.

Figaredo said he can understand why they turned to Christianity instead of Buddhism, the predominant faith in Cambodia.

"In Christianity, there is forgiveness and there is hope," he said.

"All depends on God's judgment, and they can try to transform their lives.

"Moreover, Buddhism stresses karma whereas Christianity offers salvation, which may have held more appeal."

Figaredo is also known as Kike or the bishop of the wheelchairs because of his work with people who had lost arms and legs fleeing or fighting with or against the murderous Pol Pot regime.

Source

ucanews.com

Image: facebook.com

It is the precisely that part of us, and not our ideas of "goodness" which is open to divine growth.

Carl Jung put it another way. Befriend your shadow. Embrace your darkness and watch it turn into the light.

Whatever images we use to describe the process, we come back to Jesus who preached the message until it made him so unpopular, that the "good" people killed him.

Those obsessed with their own virtue, he called "whitened sepulchres, tombs painted on the outside but corrupt within." These seem harsh words until we realise that his judgement was not about imperfection but the refusal to acknowledge it.

Of the woman who wept while anointing his feet, he said, "She loves much because she has been forgiven much." This woman had not tried to disown her story. She had embraced her shadow and it had turned into the light of divine love.

When I read Jesus' teachings I find it helpful to look beyond specific personalities to the principle involved. After all, the shadow and the light, the Pharisee and the loving giver, are in each of us.

It seems to me that Jesus spent more time talking about this, than anything else - the need for me to claim my whole story and bring the entire person to the God who made me.

When that understanding moves from my head to my heart, there is profound relief coupled with a deep sense of God as the Abundant Giver.

God does not judge me. God is Love and Love does not judge. It is I who judge myself when I encounter that Divine love.

If I don't claim the wholeness of my story, I will then project that judgement on other people. I may even project it on God.

When I claim my story, I usually find that what I tried to throw away as unworthy, actually contains the voice of God. This is apparent in the recurring patterns in life.

The lesson that is ignored or put aside, will come back again and again, each time stronger until I pay attention to it.

Whatever that particular lesson is, it will be about growth and it will involve moving away from the shadows of fear and into the light of love.

I believe that God does walk behind us, gathering bits of discarded story and giving them back to us. When we accept them as gift, we discover the truth of forgiveness.

The woman who anointed Jesus' feet with her tears, did not give Jesus her love because God had forgiven her. She gave him God's love because God had shown her how to forgive herself.

• Joy Cowley is a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and retreat facilitator.

"How many people continue today in a wayward life because they find no one willing to look at them in a different way, with the eyes—or better yet—with the heart of God, meaning with hope," he said. Read more

Violent demonstrations and attacks since the end of March have seen 92 people killed and over 1,500 injured.

The new change in Venezuelan people's attitudes began with a Medical Mission Sister. Seeing the need for people to see each other, share their our emotions and console one another", she suggested the people from her parish host an activity to encourage, strengthen, and bring hope to their community.

"We are going to walk with Jesus through the streets. We are going to celebrate Mass where there is only debris, sadness, and death. Our God is the God of life, and the only one that can give us strength in these hard times.

"I proposed instead of having Sunday Mass in the chapel, we have it in the street."

And so began what she says was a "healing public celebration" beginning with 250 people processing to the recently destroyed market at the center of the city. As they set out, a torrent of rain fell - but instead of rescheduling, a woman in the crowd persuaded the organisers to think again.

The rain is "the blessing of God," she said. "He wants to clean us, to purify us; He wants to show us that he is the God of life. Rain is a sign of hope, which fertilizes and prepares the earth."

The rain cleared by the time the procession arrived at the central market, the where nearly 800 people had gathered.

The Medical Mission Sister says the penitential rite was the catalyst that allowed a broken community to heal. It had been organized by young people who "made it so beautiful with drama and music."

"We realized that this penitential act should be a significant one, due to all the sin that we have committed. The saddest part ... has been the fight among the people, neighbor against neighbor....so many wounds...

"The Mass was so beautiful, you had to be there to feel the incredible power of God. … In the end, we saw the fruits of the celebration ... all the community has committed itself to reconstruct what has been destroyed [regardless of politics].

Source

• National Catholic Reporter
• National Catholic Reporter

Speaking during a visit to Assisi, Italy last week, Francis told the faithful "The path of forgiveness can truly renew the Church and the world.

"The world needs forgiveness," he said. "Too many people are caught up in resentment and harbour hatred, because they are incapable of forgiving. They ruin their own lives and the lives of those around them rather than finding the joy of serenity and peace."

The Pope then asked "Saint Francis to intercede for us, so that we may always be humble signs of forgiveness and channels of mercy." Read more

Diane Foley, whose son James was executed in 2014, said she took no satisfaction from the killing by drone strike of her son's killer, the man dubbed "Jihadi John".

"How can it give me joy that this deranged, sad young man was killed?" she said.

"I do not want to be caught in their cycle of hate because that is not what gives me life."

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