Follow Us On:
In 2000, Pope John Paul II, in the name of Church apologised to the world for some errors carried out in the name of the Church.
Among other things he said: “Let us ask pardon for the divisions which have occurred among Christians, for the violence some have used in the service of the truth and for the distrustful and hostile attitudes sometimes taken towards the followers of other religions….
We humbly ask forgiveness for the part which each of us has had in these evils by our own actions, thus helping to disfigure the face of the Church.”
(Homily of the Holy Father, “Day of Pardon” Sunday, 12 March 2000).
My Questions:
1) Do we as Africans know how that epoch-making apology relates to us?
2) Do we even realize the errors for which the pope apologized?
3) What measures have we taken to identify the exact errors in question and their negative consequences?
4) What have we done to make sure that those errors are not repeated?
5) What have we concretly done to minimize the adverse effects of the errors in question?
6) What efforts have been made to directly and concretely apologize to persons and communities mostly affected?
7) Or don’t we just care?
Angelo Chidi Unegbu (19.08.2021)
