JD insightfully examines the difficult balance between mercy and accountability in the Church—a challenge that often appears to lean toward mercy, sometimes to the detriment of justice. This “optimistic anthropology” he describes, where past conduct is viewed as indicative of inherent goodness even in the face of serious misconduct, touc…
JD insightfully examines the difficult balance between mercy and accountability in the Church—a challenge that often appears to lean toward mercy, sometimes to the detriment of justice. This “optimistic anthropology” he describes, where past conduct is viewed as indicative of inherent goodness even in the face of serious misconduct, touches upon what I see as the Church’s Achilles heel: the tendency to prioritize forgiveness over accountability.
As he highlights, this “disordered mercy” can foster permissiveness, particularly in handling cases of clerical abuse, financial mismanagement, or other forms of misconduct. By pointing to John Paul II’s teachings on the “fundamental option,” he emphasize s how character is revealed through our actual moral choices, not simply an assumed inner goodness. Genuine reform requires a commitment to accountability, not mercy at the expense of accountability
I switched from being a patristic major with a minor in Renaissance/ Reformation to the reverse after my first lecture on the Renaissance in which Cola di Rienza, having attempted to recreate the Roman Republic while the papacy was in Avignon, was sent back by the Pope to govern Rome because he had learned his lesson and wouldn't do that again. Wrong. And we still haven't learned.
JD insightfully examines the difficult balance between mercy and accountability in the Church—a challenge that often appears to lean toward mercy, sometimes to the detriment of justice. This “optimistic anthropology” he describes, where past conduct is viewed as indicative of inherent goodness even in the face of serious misconduct, touches upon what I see as the Church’s Achilles heel: the tendency to prioritize forgiveness over accountability.
As he highlights, this “disordered mercy” can foster permissiveness, particularly in handling cases of clerical abuse, financial mismanagement, or other forms of misconduct. By pointing to John Paul II’s teachings on the “fundamental option,” he emphasize s how character is revealed through our actual moral choices, not simply an assumed inner goodness. Genuine reform requires a commitment to accountability, not mercy at the expense of accountability
I switched from being a patristic major with a minor in Renaissance/ Reformation to the reverse after my first lecture on the Renaissance in which Cola di Rienza, having attempted to recreate the Roman Republic while the papacy was in Avignon, was sent back by the Pope to govern Rome because he had learned his lesson and wouldn't do that again. Wrong. And we still haven't learned.