(By Giovanna Chirri).
From slavery to the crusades, from
passiveness toward the Holocaust to the self-realization of
women, passing through divisive actions against the unity of
Christians, the persecution of dissidents and sins against the
poor, the marginalized and weak ethnicities, John Paul II
branded his pontificate with a series of appeals asking pardon
for blows committed in the history of Church figures.
The unprecedented, striking initiatives attracted criticism
and consensus inside and outside of the Church. But for John
Paul II, to ask forgiveness was far from being an act of
weakness.
It was necessary for eliminating all forms of rancour and
violence from personal and collective conscience left by the
legacy of the past, and for promoting reconciliation in truth,
justice and charity.
The idea, which would culminate in the solemn "mea culpa"
for the sins of the Church declared in St. Peter's Square during
the Jubilee in 2000, was already present in the first years of
his pontificate.
In 1980, participating in a meeting with representatives of
other churches, John Paul II remembered with contrition the
"sins of men that have brought us to the unhappy division of
Christians".
In 1985, in Africa, he asked forgiveness for slavery
practiced by Christian nations and endorsed by Christians that
destroyed the lives of tens of million people.
In 1991, with words that would win the respect of countless
Jews, he asked on no uncertain terms "forgiveness for passivity
in the face of persecution of the Jews and the Holocaust".
In 1992, in Latin America, he confessed guilt for the
enormous sufferings on that continent caused by colonization.
In 1995, with a memorable Letter to Women, he condemned the
fact that even the Church is "unfortunately heir of a history of
enormous conditioning, in all times and in all latitudes, that
has made the path of women difficult".
"If objective responsibility is not lacking, especially in
certain contexts, also among a number of sons of the Church, I
am sincerely very sorry on their behalf," he wrote.
When he wrote the Letter to Women, the pope had already
matured the idea of a solemn mea culpa with which to
characterize the 2000 Jubilee, to bring the Church into the
third Christian millennium cleansed of the sins of its children
and able to open dialogue with the world, churches, other
religions.
The idea did not meet the favour of the whole College of
Cardinals, some of whom interpreted it as a sign of weakness on
the Church's behalf, as altogether unnecessary and unjustified.
But John Paul II pursued it with determination until that
March 12, 2000 in St. Peter's Square, when with a striking
liturgy in the name of the whole Church, he asked forgiveness
for six categories of sins that have involved men of the Church
and the Church itself, that "is holy, but made up of sinners".
The six categories are:
1) Sins committed "in the service of truth", among them
intolerance and violence against dissidents, religious wars,
violence and abuse during the crusades, coercive methods during
the Inquisition
2) Sins that have undermined the unity of Christians, among them
excommunications, religious persecutions, schisms
3) Sins committed in the context of relations with the Jews,
including contempt, hostile acts, silence and anti-Jewish
prejudice that facilitated the Holocaust
4) Sins against peace, the rights of peoples, respect for other
cultures, among them slavery and colonization
5) Sins against women, races, ethnicities
6) Sins against social justice, the marginalized, the poor.
Even after the jubilee, John Paul II continued requests for
forgiveness and reconciliation.
In one of the last episodes, on June 22, 2003, at Banja
Luka, the pope delivered a mea culpa for crimes committed by
Catholics and clergy during ethnic clashes in Bosnia
Herzegovina.
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