MEMORY AND RECONCILIATION: THE CHURCH AND FAULTS OF THE PAST

VATICAN CITY, MAR 7, 2000 (VIS) - The document produced by the International Theological Commission, entitled "Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and the Faults of The Past," was made public today during a press conference held in the Holy See Press Office. French, English and Spanish translations as well as the original Italian edition were made available.

Following are excerpts from that document:

"Introduction. The Bull of Indiction of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, 'Incarnationis mysterium' (November 29, 1998), includes the purification of memory among the signs 'which may help people to live the exceptional grace of the Jubilee with greater fervor.' ... The purification of memory is thus 'an act of courage and humility in recognizing the wrongs done by those who have borne or bear the name of Christian.'"

"The requests for forgiveness made by the Bishop of Rome in this spirit of authenticity and gratuitousness have given rise to various reactions. ... Many have noted the increased credibility of ecclesial pronouncements that has resulted from this way of acting. Some reservations, however, have also been voiced, mainly expressions of unease connected with particular historical and cultural contexts in which the simple admission of faults committed by the sons and daughters of the Church may look like acquiescence in the face of accusations made by those prejudicially hostile to the Church."

"The purpose of the text is, therefore, not to examine particular historical cases but rather to clarify the presuppositions that ground repentance for past faults."

"The Church is understood as the community of the baptized, inseparably visible and operating in history under the direction of her Pastors, united as a profound mystery by the action of the life-giving Spirit."

"This offer of forgiveness appears particularly meaningful when one thinks of the many persecutions suffered by Christians in the course of history."

"The Problem: Yesterday and Today. Before Vatican II. In none of the Jubilees celebrated until now has there been, however, an awareness in conscience of any faults in the Church's past, nor of the need to ask God's pardon for conduct in the recent or remote past. Indeed, in the entire history of the Church there are no precedents for requests for forgiveness by the Magisterium for past wrongs. ... One famous example is furnished by the reforming Pope Hadrian VI who ... deplored the faults of his times, precisely those of his immediate predecessor Leo X and his curia, without, however, adding a request for pardon. ...In the view of Paul VI, both the request for and offer of pardon concerned solely the sin of the division between Christians and presupposed reciprocity."

"The Teaching of the Council. Vatican II takes the same approach as Paul VI. From a theological point of view, Vatican II distinguishes between the indefectible fidelity of the Church and the weaknesses of her members, clergy or laity, yesterday and today."

"John Paul II's Requests for Forgiveness. Not only did John Paul II renew expressions of regret for the 'sorrowful memories' that mark the history of the divisions among Christians, as Paul VI and the Second Vatican Council had done, but he also extended a request for forgiveness to a multitude of historical events in which the Church, or individual groups of Christians, were implicated in different respects."

"The Questions Raised. The steps taken by John Paul II to ask pardon for faults of the past have been understood in many circles as signs of the Church's vitality and authenticity, such that they strengthen her credibility. It is right, moreover, that the Church contribute to changing false and unacceptable images of herself, especially in those areas in which, whether through ignorance or bad faith, some sectors of opinion like to identify her with obscurantism and intolerance. The requests for pardon formulated by the Pope have also given rise to positive emulation both inside and outside the Church. Heads of state or government, private and public associations, religious communities are today asking forgiveness for episodes or historical periods marked by injustices."

In Chapter Two, "The Biblical Approach," the commission looks at pardon as it appears in the Old and New Testaments, and at the biblical Jubilee.

We see that pardon, as it appears is the Old Testament, is asked by a people or on behalf of a people for offenses committed against God: "In all cases where 'the sins of the fathers' are mentioned, the confession is addressed solely to God, and the sins confessed by the people and for the people are those committed directly against Him rather than those committed (also) against other human beings."

On the other hand, in the New Testament, we see that Christians are taught not only to ask pardon of God for offenses committed against Him; rather they must learn to ask pardon of their neighbors for offenses committed against them. "Jesus asks his disciples to be ready to forgive all those who have offended them, just as God Himself always offers His forgiveness: 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.' He who is able to forgive his neighbor shows that be has understood his own need for forgiveness by God."

In the Bible, says the document, it is clear that "the celebration of the Jubilee was an implicit admission of fault and an attempt to re-establish a just order. "The Pope's appeal correctly captures the spirit of the Biblical Jubilee, which calls for actions aimed at re-establishing the order of God's original plan for creation."

Chapter Three is entitled "Theological Foundations" and it is subdivided into four parts: "The Mystery of the Church," "The Holiness of the Church," "The Necessity of Continual Renewal" and "The Motherhood of the Church."

Here the document quotes Pope John Paul's Apostolic Letter 'Tertio millennio adveniente': "Hence it is appropriate that as the second millennium of Christianity draws to a close the Church should become ever more fully conscious of the sinfulness of her children, recalling all those times in history when they departed from the spirit of Christ and His Gospel and, instead of offering to the world the witness of a life inspired by the values of her faith, indulged in ways of thinking and acting which were truly forms of counter-witness and scandal. Although she is holy because of her incorporation into Christ, the Church does not tire of doing penance. Before God and man, she always acknowledges as her own her sinful sons and daughters."

"Historical Judgement and Theological Judgment" is the title of Chapter Four, which looks at the conditions for a correct interpretation of the past from the point of view of historical knowledge. It also studies the processes of historical investigation and theological evaluation. "What needs to be avoided," it says, "is an apologetic seeking to justify everything and an undeserved fixing of blame, based on an historically untenable attribution of responsibility."

Following are excerpts from Chapter Five, entitled "Ethical Discernment." This explores "Some Ethical Criteria"; "The Division of Christians"; "The Use of Force in the Service of Truth"; "Christians and Jews" and "Our Responsibility for the Evils of Today."

"Ethical Discernment. In order for the Church carry out an appropriate historical examination of conscience before God with a view to her own interior renewal and growth in grace and holiness, it is necessary that she recognize the 'forms of counter-witness and of scandal' that have taken place in her history, especially in the past millennium. It is not possible to undertake such a task without being aware of its moral and spiritual significance. This entails defining some key terms, as well as making some necessary ethical clarifications.

"Some Ethical Criteria. On the level of morality, the request for forgiveness always presupposes an admission of responsibility, precisely the responsibility for a wrong committed against others. Usually, moral responsibility refers to the relationship between the action and the person who does it. It establishes who is responsible for an act, its attribution to a certain person or persons. The responsibility may be objective or subjective. ... Asking for forgiveness presupposes a contemporaneity between those who are hurt by an action and those who committed it. ... Thus, the evil done often outlives the one who did it through the consequences of behavior that can become a heavy burden on the consciences and memories of the descendants."

"The entire process of purification of memory, however, insofar as it requires the correct combination of historical evaluation and theological perception, needs to be lived by the Church's sons and daughters not only with the rigor that takes account of the criteria and principles indicated above, but that is also accompanied by a continual calling upon the help of the Holy Spirit. ... We can now explore some examples ' among which are those mentioned in 'Tertio millennio adveniente' - of situations in which the behavior of the sons and daughters of the Church seems to have contradicted the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a significant way.

"The Division of Christians. The principal divisions during the past millennium which 'affect the seamless garment of Christ' are the schism between the Eastern and Western Churches at the beginning of this millennium, and in the West - four centuries later - the laceration caused by those events 'commonly referred to as the Reformation.' ... The way that has opened to overcome these differences is that of doctrinal development animated by mutual love. The lack of supernatural love, of 'agape', seems to have been common to both the breaches. ... Particularly problematic for the path toward the unity of Christians is the temptation to be guided ' or even determined ' by cultural factors, historical conditioning, and those prejudices which feed separation and mutual distrust among Christians, even though they do not have anything to do with matters of faith. The Church's sons and daughters should sincerely examine their consciences to see whether they are actively committed to obeying the imperative of unity and are living an 'interior conversion.' ... To the extent that some Catholics are pleased to remain bound to the separations of the past, doing nothing to remove the obstacles that impede unity, one could justly speak of solidarity in the sin of division."

"The Use of Force in the Service of Truth. 'Another sad chapter of history to which the sons and daughters of the Church must return with a spirit of repentance is that of the acquiescence given, especially in certain centuries, to intolerance and even the use of force in the service of truth.'... Analogous attention should be paid to all the failures, for which the sons and daughters of the Church may have been responsible, to denounce injustice and violence in the great variety of historical situations: 'Then there is the lack of discernment by many Christians in situations where basic human rights were violated. The request for forgiveness applies to whatever should have been done or was passed over in silence because of weakness or bad judgement, to what was done or said hesitantly or inappropriately.'"

"Christians and Jews. The relationship between Christians and Jews is one of the areas requiring a special examination of conscience. 'The Church's relationship to the Jewish people is unlike the one she shares with any other religion. Nevertheless, 'the history of the relations between Jews and Christians is a tormented one... In effect, the balance of these relations over two thousand years has been quite negative.' The hostility or diffidence of numerous Christians toward Jews in the course of time is a sad historical fact and is the cause of profound remorse for Christians aware of the fact that 'Jesus was a descendent of David; that the Virgin Mary and the Apostles belonged to the Jewish people.' ... The Shoah was certainly the result of the pagan ideology that was Nazism, a pagan ideology animated by a merciless anti-Semitism that not only despised the faith of the Jewish people, but also denied their very human dignity. Nevertheless, 'it may be asked whether the Nazi persecution of the Jews was not made easier by the anti-Jewish prejudices imbedded in some Christian minds and hearts. ... Did Christians give every possible assistance to those being persecuted, and in particular to the persecuted Jews?' There is no doubt that there were many Christians who risked their lives to save and to help their Jewish neighbors. It seems, however, also true that 'alongside such courageous men and women, the spiritual resistance and concrete action of other Christians was not that which might have been expected from Christ's followers.' This fact constitutes a call to the consciences of all Christians today ... to keep a 'moral and religious memory' of the injury inflicted on the Jews."

"Our Responsibility for the Evils of Today. 'The present age in fact, together with much light, also presents not a few shadows. 'First among the latter we might mention the phenomenon of the denial of God in its many forms. ... One encounters then a series of negative phenomena, like religious indifference, the widespread lack of a transcendent sense of human life, a climate of secularism and ethical relativism, the denial of the right to life of the unborn child sanctioned in pro-abortion legislation, and a great indifference to the cry of the poor in entire sectors of the human family. ... The true face of God has been revealed in Jesus Christ, and thus, Christians are offered the incommensurable grace to know this face. At the same time, however, Christians have the 'responsibility' to live in such a way as to show others the true face of the living God. ... Christians, in fact, do not believe only in the existence of sin, but also, and above all, in the 'forgiveness of sins.' In addition, recalling these faults means accepting our solidarity with those who, in good and bad, have gone before us on the way of truth."
Chapter Six is called "Pastoral and Missionary Perspectives" and looks at "The pastoral reasons for acknowledging the faults of the past"; "The implications for the life of the Church of an ecclesial request for forgiveness" and "The foreseeable implications for dialogue and mission of the Church's acknowledgement of past faults."

The Conclusion of the document affirms that the Church's "request for pardon must not be understood as an expression of false humility or as a denial of her 2,000-year history, which is certainly rich in merit in the areas of charity, culture, and holiness. Instead she responds to a necessary requirement of the truth, which, in addition to the positive aspects, recognizes the human limitations and weaknesses of the various generations of Christ's disciples."

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