"Forgiveness is not a substitute for justice"

The following quotation is from Pope Benedict's mid-flight press conference given on 5/11 while en route to Portugal...

"In terms of what we today can discover in this message [of Fatima], attacks against the Pope or the Church do not only come from outside; rather the sufferings of the Church come from within, from the sins that exist in the Church. This too has always been known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from enemies on the outside, but is born from the sin within the church, the Church therefore has a deep need to re-learn penance, to accept purification, to learn on one hand forgiveness but also the need for justice. Forgiveness is not a substitute for justice. In one word we have to re-learn these essentials: conversion, prayer, penance, and the theological virtues. That is how we respond, and we need to be realistic in expecting that evil will always attack, from within and from outside, but the forces of good are also always present, and finally the Lord is stronger than evil and the Virgin Mary is for us the visible maternal guarantee that the will of God is always the last word in history."

Source: Vatican Radio

[5/11]

Pope Benedict on Reconciliation & Penance

The following are some highlights from Pope Benedict's annual pre-Christmas address to the Roman Curia and cardinals in Rome. The Holy Father said...

* "Today we must learn once again to be able to recognize guilt, we must shake off the illusion of being innocent"

* "We must learn the ability to do penance, to let ourselves be transformed; to meet the other and let God give us the courage and strength for such renewal"

* People must "be willing to take the first step, be the first to meet the other, offering them reconciliation, taking on the pain that comes with letting go of having to always be right"

Pope Benedict also called for a "rediscovery of the sacrament of Penance", saying that the neglect of this sacrament is "a symptom of the loss of truth in relation to ourselves and with God; a loss that puts our humanity in danger and weakens our capacity for peace."

The Holy Father also reminded that "Faith is not a myth. It is real history and we can touch traces of it with our hands."

Related: The Sacrament of Penance

[12/22]