Mk 16:15-20
On March 5, 2000, Pope John Paul II did something unprecedented. He sought forgiveness for the many past sins of the Catholic Church. Celebrating the Eucharist for this Day of Pardon of the Jubilee Year 2000, the Pope asked forgiveness “for the divisions among Christians, for the violence that some Christians have used in the service of the truth and for the behavior of diffidence and hostility sometimes used toward followers of other religions.” The phrase “violence in the service of truth” refers to the treatment of heretics during the Crusades and the Inquisition and the use of force in the conversion of native peoples.
On March 5, 2000, Pope John Paul II did something unprecedented. He sought forgiveness for the many past sins of the Catholic Church. Celebrating the Eucharist for this Day of Pardon of the Jubilee Year 2000, the Pope asked forgiveness “for the divisions among Christians, for the violence that some Christians have used in the service of the truth and for the behavior of diffidence and hostility sometimes used toward followers of other religions.” The phrase “violence in the service of truth” refers to the treatment of heretics during the Crusades and the Inquisition and the use of force in the conversion of native peoples.
The Day of Pardon concretized the Holy Father’s call for the Catholic Church to see the start of the millennium as an ideal opportunity to seek forgiveness for past errors and instances of infidelity, inconsistency, and slowness to act, considering this a necessary purification of memory before the Church crossed the threshold of the new millennium (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, n 33).
The Ascension completes the mission of Jesus: it is the last act in the cycle of Jesus’ life, passion, death, and resurrection. It celebrates his return in glory to the Father. At the same time, it marks the beginning of a new era when the apostles must live in the absence of the Jesus they have known. Jesus will no longer tread with them the roads of Palestine, proclaiming the kingdom of God and ministering to the needy.
Before he is taken up into heaven, Jesus sends the apostles on mission: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation.” He bids them wait in Jerusalem for the fulfillment of the Father’s promise (First Reading). After they are baptized by the Holy Spirit, the apostles go forth and preach everywhere.
Down the centuries, the Church has been faithful to the mission of proclaiming the good news and baptizing peoples. But the means used have not always been in accord with the spirit of the Gospel.
In seeking forgiveness, John Paul II referred to the division among Christians which constitutes a counterwitness and scandal to the Gospel. Forgiveness was sought for religious intolerance and for the use of violence in the propagation of the Catholic faith in the Americas and in Africa.
John Paul II also said, “We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who in the course of history have caused these children of yours [the Jews] to suffer, and asking your forgiveness we wish to commit ourselves to genuine brotherhood with the people of the Covenant.”
At the prayer of the faithful, forgiveness was sought for sins against love, peace, the rights of peoples, the respect of cultures and religions; for sins against the dignity of women and the unity of the human race; and for sins in the field of fundamental human rights.
The Holy Father said, “For the role that each one of us has had, with his behavior, in these evils, contributing to a disfigurement of the face of the Church, we humbly ask forgiveness.” In turn, he invited Christians to forgive the abuse they suffered over the centuries.
After the final blessing, the Pope called for a renewed commitment to faith in the Gospel’s perennial message.
The papal apology, many people believed, would go a long way in fostering ecumenical unity with non-Catholic Christians, recharging the Church’s missionary effort, and increasing the credibility of the Christian message.