Forgiveness, compassion, and Catholic Social Thought

A student in my "Catholic Social Thought and the Law" class passes on these thoughts:

On April 27th, Pope Benedict XVI said the following in a message to the Pontifical Academy of the Social Sciences:  “Forgiveness is not the denial of wrong-doing, but a participation in the healing and transforming love of God which reconciles and restores.”  In studying and discussing Catholic Social Thought, we most frequently hear terms like subsidiarity, solidarity, autonomy, and faith.  Obviously these are critical concepts in asserting the truth and power of the Catholic social doctrine, but I think Benedict makes a powerful point by revitalizing the role of forgiveness in the Church’s compassionate social mission. 

When proselytizing a revealed transcendent truth like that at the heart of CST, one is subject to a certain haughtiness.  It is the arrogance of the zealous believer, one who possesses the right faith but forgets the sympathy, forgiveness, and compassion that should come with it.  This self-righteousness is a far greater obstacle to the success of CST than any actual doctrinal differences or disagreements.  It is this superciliousness that in part angers so many regarding the host of child abuse scandals.  Catholic Social Thought will find no purchase in the secular world if non-Catholics constantly feel talked down to rather than engaged, and the Church will continue to work against the world rather than with it.

Forgiveness is the first step in preventing the erection of this wall of arrogance.  As we write about the sacred value of the family, the necessary autonomy of the Church, and virtues of faithful citizenship, we need to remember the exhortations of St. Augustine, St. Anselm and Pope Benedict XVI that we are forgiven only as we forgive.  The Lord’s Prayer is a daily reminder of this divine mandate for humility and universal compassion.  Imagine how much better we can infuse the temporal order, how much more authentic and credible the Church’s message of sympathy and grace will be, and how much better enabled we shall be to create good works through the law and throughout society when we can learn to first humbly ask for forgiveness and freely forgive.  The need for forgiveness, the very flaw inherent in all of humanity, is at the very heart of the moral anthropology of Catholic Social Thought.  We should bear that in mind, as we bear our burdens and those of others throughout the world.  “Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, these things I will do unto you and not forsake you.”