"Fratelli tutti": Chapter Seven

Lawmakers in at least 15 states have introduced bills that seek to restrict how teachers can discuss racism, sexism and other social issues. Supporters of these laws have designed them to get schools to stop teaching critical race theory that examines how racism has shaped the U.S. legal system. Lawmakers claim that when teachers introduce lessons about race, gender and identity, they are sowing division among students.

Opponents and many teachers say they fear such legislation will stifle discussion of how racism and sexism have shaped the country’s history. They worry about the effect this will have on the present situation by threatening educators with possible legal action. This type of legislation aims “to sweep the problem under the rug.”

This is in stark contrast to Pope Francis’ teaching in his Encyclical Letter, Fratelli tutti. In the seventh chapter, the Holy Father says, “There is a need for paths of peace to heal open wounds. There is also a need for peacemakers, men and women prepared to work boldly and creatively to initiate processes of healing and renewed encounter.”

He emphasizes that people on both sides of a conflict have to face the truth. “Those who were enemies have to speak from the stark and clear truth. They have to learn how to cultivate a penitential memory, one that can accept the past in order not to cloud the future with their own regrets, problems and plans. Only by basing themselves on the historical truth of events will they be able to make a broad and persevering effort to understand one another and to strive for a new synthesis for the good of all … Truth is an inseparable companion of justice and mercy.”

The pope says, “Truth should not lead to revenge, but to reconciliation and forgiveness.” “Every act of violence committed against a human being is a wound in humanity’s flesh; every violent death diminishes us as people. Violence leads to more violence, hatred to more hatred, death to more death. We must break this cycle that seems inescapable.”

The pope reminds us that peace making is an ongoing process. “There is no end to the building of a country’s social peace; it is an open-ended endeavor, a never-ending task that calls for the commitment of everyone and challenges us to work tirelessly to build a united nation.”

The pontiff emphasized the role of minorities and the poor. He said, “If we have to begin anew, it must always be from the least of our brothers and sisters.”

A good example of people in our state doing the opposite is the middle school textbook “Louisiana: Our History, Our Home.” The Louisiana Department of Education rated the textbook as low quality when compared to state content standards. Although given the lowest possible rating, school districts are free to choose their own resources. What is missing is the African American perspective, especially in Chapter 10 that deals with Secession and Civil War.

The narrative mentions how white slave owners had to deal with a new reality of paying people to harvest their fields because slavery ended. That makes it look like white slave owners were the ones who were suffering. We need to tell the whole story from everyone’ viewpoint. If we do not, we reopen wounds that have not healed. We must hear “from the least of our brothers and sisters.”
When conflicts are not resolved but kept hidden or buried in the past, silence can lead to complicity in grave misdeeds and sins. Authentic reconciliation does not flee from conflict, but is achieved in conflict, resolving it through dialogue and open, honest and patient negotiation. Conflict between different groups “if it abstains from enmities and mutual hatred, gradually changes into an honest discussion of differences founded on a desire for justice.”

“Forgiveness and reconciliation are central themes in Christianity and in other religions … Jesus never promoted violence or intolerance. He openly condemned the use of force to gain power over others: ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you’ (Matthew 20:25-26). Instead, the Gospel tells us to forgive ‘seventy times seven’” (Matthew 18:22).

“Calling for forgiveness does not means renouncing our own rights to confront corrupt officials, criminals or those who would debase our dignity. We are called to love everyone without exception; yet, loving oppressors does not mean allowing them to keep oppressing us, or letting them think that what they do is acceptable. On the contrary, true love for an oppressor means seeking ways to make them cease their oppression; it means stripping them of a power that they do not know how to use, and diminishes their own humanity and that of others.

“Of those who have endured much unjust and cruel suffering, we must not demand a sort of ‘social forgiveness.’ Reconciliation is a personal act, and no one can impose it upon an entire society, however great the need to foster it. In a strictly personal way, someone, by a free and generous decision, can choose not to demand punishment (cf. Matthew 5:44-46), even if society and its justice system legitimately demand it. However, it is not possible to proclaim a ‘blanket reconciliation’ in binding wounds by decree or to cover injustices in a cloak of oblivion. Who can claim the right to forgive in the name of others? It is moving to see forgiveness shown by those who are able to leave behind the harm they suffered. It is also humanly understandable for those who cannot. Forgetting is never the answer.”
“It is tempting to turn the page, to say that all these things happened long ago and we should look to the future. For God’s sake, no! We can never move forward without remembering the past; we do not progress without an honest and unclouded memory. We need to ‘keep alive the flame of collective conscience, bearing witness to succeeding generations to the horror of what happened. That witness ‘awakens and preserves the memory of the victims, so that the conscience of humanity may rise in the face of every desire for dominance and destruction.’”

The pope said, “Those who truly forgive do not forget. Instead, they choose not to yield to the same destructive force that caused them so much suffering. They break the vicious circle; they halt the advance of the forces of destruction. They choose not to spread in society the spirit of revenge that will inevitably return to take its toll. … Revenge resolves nothing.”
Pope Francis addresses modern day war. “The truth is that ‘never has humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely.’ We can no longer think of war as a solution, because its risks will probably always be greater than its supposed benefits. In view of this, it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria elaborated in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a ‘just war.’ Never war again!”

The pope said, “Another way to eliminate others is the death penalty. Saint John Paul II stated clearly and firmly that the death penalty is inadequate from a moral standpoint and no longer necessary from that of penal justice. There can be no stepping back from this position. Today we state clearly that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible’ and the church is firmly committed to calling for its abolition worldwide.”

He concludes, “All Christians and people of good will are today called to work not only for the abolition of the death penalty, legal or illegal, in all its forms. They should also work for the improvement of prison conditions out of respect for the human dignity of persons deprived of their freedom. I would link this to life imprisonment … A life sentence is a secret death penalty.”