Vincent Kundukulam
Our appreciation for Fratelli Tutti increases as and when we realize that it has dealt with utmost courtesy and scholarship even minute doubts or issues that arise in the peace-process. We cannot here discuss all such cases. We shall take up one question namely that of the time to be allotted to the concerned people for they become enabled to forgive one another after a painful causality and join hands for common endeavors.
According to Pope Francis, due time must be given to the persons concerned to become capable of giving forgiveness. This is because, he thinks that wounds will not be healed on all a sudden by any decree. One cannot cover injustice in a cloak of oblivion (FT 246). It is true, the apostolate of peace-making is like the birth and growth of a plant. The farmer prepares the ground, sows the seed and then takes leave for his other jobs. While he is taking rest, the seed begins to work slowly and invisibly. After a few days, the planter notices that it has sprouted up. He gives it water and manure and then it grows at its own rhythm.
Peace gets apparently installed in a conflictual situation through peace-loving people. But according to Christian faith there is an invisible agent behind every peace-event. Holy Spirit is active in the hearts of all men inspiring them to act according to the values of gospel. As Jacques Dupuis states, Holy Spirit is the communicating agent between God and man. Peace being a gift from God, it takes place ultimately through the activity of Holy Spirit, the principal agent of evangelization. The journey of peace will reach its goal only if the participants adopt God’s way of seeing things. God does not see with his eyes; God sees with his heart. God’s love is same for everyone, regardless of religion. (FT, 281) And what helps us to forgive one another is none other than Holy Spirit. Giving appropriate time for the healing of wounds and making the concerned people enabled to forgive their foes is part of respecting the time assigned by Spirit for the effective realization of peace-process.
Avoiding undue precipitation and providing adequate time for forgiveness is also required from the point of view of human diversity. The capacity to forgive varies from person to person and from problem to problem. According to Pope it is unfair to demand collective forgiveness from a group while some of them have endured unjust and cruel suffering. This is because reconciliation is primarily a personal act. In fact, each person is to be given due time to complete the process of reconciliation by himself or herself. Pope recalls that St. Francis of Assisi did not wield power over others in order to realize peace. He helped people to become more fully themselves and become capable of acting like a father to all (FT, 4) Yes, reconciliation is a graceful act which has to be kindled and get strengthened gratuitously in a person as a gift from God.
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