Pope John Paul has continued to
call for all people to pray for peace. On the occasion of the World Day for Peace on
January 1st, he wrote:
Those who kill by acts of terrorism actually despair of humanity,
of life, of the future. In their view, everything is to be hated and destroyed. Terrorists
hold that the truth in which they believe, or the suffering that they have undergone, is
so absolute that their reaction in destroying even innocent lives is justified. Terrorism
is often the outcome of that fanatic fundamentalism which springs from the conviction that
one’s own vision of the truth must be forced upon everyone else. Instead, even when
the truth has been reached—and this can happen only in a limited and imperfect
way—it can never be imposed. Respect for a person’s conscience, where the image
of God himself is reflected (cf. Gn. 1:26-27), means that we can only propose the
truth to others, who are then responsible for accepting it. To try to impose on
others by violent means what we consider to be the truth is an offense against God, whose
image that person bears. For this reason, what is usually referred to as fundamentalism is
an attitude radically opposed to belief in God. Terrorism exploits not just people, it
exploits God: It ends by making him an idol to be used for one’s own purposes.
Consequently, no religious leader can condone terrorism, and much less
preach it. It is a profanation of religion to declare oneself a terrorist in the name of
God, the creator of man, who cares for man and loves him. It is altogether contrary to
faith in Christ the Lord, who taught his disciples to pray: "Forgive us our debts, as
we also have forgiven our debtors" (Mt. 6:12).
Following the teaching and example of Jesus, Christians hold that to
show mercy is to live out the truth of our lives: We can and must be merciful because
mercy has been shown us by a God who is love (cf. 1 Jn. 4:7-12). The God who enters into
history to redeem us, and through the dramatic events of Good Friday prepares the victory
of Easter Sunday, is a God of mercy and forgiveness (cf. Ps. 103:3-4; 10-13). Thus Jesus
told those who challenged his dining with sinners: "Go and learn what this means,
‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners" (Mt. 9:13). The followers of Christ, baptized into his redeeming death and
resurrection, must always be men and women of mercy and forgiveness.
But what does forgiveness actually mean? And why should we forgive? A reflection on
forgiveness cannot avoid these questions. Returning to what I wrote in my message for the
1997 World Day of Peace ("Offer Forgiveness and Receive Peace"), I would
reaffirm that forgiveness inhabits people’s hearts before it becomes a social
reality. Only to the degree that an ethics and a culture of forgiveness prevail can we
hope for a "politics" of forgiveness, expressed in society’s attitudes and
laws, so that through them, justice takes on a more human character.
Forgiveness is, above all, a personal choice, a decision of the heart
to go against the natural instinct to pay back evil with evil. The measure of such a
decision is the love of God, who draws us to himself in spite of our sin. It has its
perfect exemplar in the forgiveness of Christ, who on the cross prayed, "Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Lk. 23:34).
