wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Reconciliation emcompasses truth, justice,

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World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org
For immediate release - 15/05/2005

THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF RECONCILIATION: TRUTH, JUSTICE, FORGIVENESS

				Free photos available at
				http://www.mission2005.org

The "language of reconciliation is often unclear" and it has sometimes
been "manipulated and distorted to serve other ends". But reconciliation
reveals "the heart of the gospel," and thus is a paradigm for church
mission.

That was the core message that participants at the 9-16 May Conference on
World Mission and Evangelism in Athens heard from Robert Schreiter, a
Roman Catholic priest who teaches at the Catholic Theological Union in
Chicago.

Schreiter focused his 14 May presentation on the social dimension of
reconciliation, which according to him involves three dimensions:
"truth-telling, struggling for justice, working towards forgiveness".

This process implies that churches "must endeavour to create safe,
hospitable spaces where truth can be spoken and heard". At the same time,
they have to struggle for justice in all its dimensions - punitive,
restorative, distributive, structural - if truth-telling is not to sound
false and the safe spaces created become barren.

But it is the work towards forgiveness which proves to be the most
difficult. Since "it means repentance and conversion on the part of those
who have done wrong, acknowledging the wrongdoing and taking the steps to
approach the victim in order to apologize and make reparation", the task
often remains incomplete.

At the same time, from the point of view of the victim, to be able to walk
"the difficult journey towards forgiveness" is indispensable in order to
overcome "the toxin that memories of violence, oppression, and marginalization contain".

Churches can only accompany this process by becoming communities of memory
and hope which, acknowledging that "reconciliation belongs to God", are
nonetheless able to participate "in something much larger than [themselves]: the work of the Triune God in bringing about the healing of the
world".

Free high resolution photos to accompany this story are available at:
http://cwme.wcc-coe.org/High_resolution.884.0.html

Conference website:
http://www.mission2005.org

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363
media@wcc-coe.org

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The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now 347, in
more than 120 countries in all continents from virtually all Christian
traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is not a member church but works
cooperatively with the WCC. The highest governing body is the assembly,
which meets approximately every seven years. The WCC was formally
inaugurated in 1948 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its staff is headed by
general secretary Samuel Kobia from the Methodist church in Kenya.