“I ask for forgiveness, feeling ashamed…”, the cardinals repeat it, one after the other. Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, for the lack of courage in seeking peace, Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development , for having transformed creation into a desert, Seán Patrick O’Malley, archbishop emeritus of Boston and president of the Commission for the protection of minors, for abuses of conscience, power, sexual abuse and their cover-ups, Kevin Joseph Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, for not having defended the dignity of women, Cristóbal López Romero, archbishop of Rabat, for having turned his head away from the poor and having embellished the altars by taking away the bread to the hungry, Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, for not having proposed the Gospel and, indeed, for having given doctrinal justification to inhuman treatments, Christoph Schönborn, archbishop of Vienna, for having placed obstacles to the construction of a truly synodal Church and for having transformed authority into power.
The penitential vigil wanted by Pope Francis on the eve of the opening of the second phase of the Universal Synod which will take place from 2 to 27 October, puts the wounds of the Church on the table.
Bergoglio takes up the phrase from Sirach «the prayer of the poor passes through the clouds», to underline that «we are here beggars of the Father’s mercy».
And he explains that it was he himself who wrote the requests for forgiveness read by the cardinals because “it was necessary to name our main sins”. Because the healing of the wound can only begin by “confessing the sin we have committed”.
Taking up the image of the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, Francis recalls that the former, standing with his forehead high, “fills the scene with his stature”. He attracts attention and poses as a model. “In this way he presumes to pray, but in reality he is celebrating himself, masking his fragilities in his ephemeral security.” The Pharisee «expects a reward for his merits, and in this way deprives himself of the surprise of the gratuitousness of salvation, creating for himself a god who could do nothing other than sign a certificate of presumed perfection. A man closed to surprise, closed in on himself, closed to the great surprise of mercy. His ego doesn’t give space to anything or anyone, not even to God.” We too often behave like this, taking up all the space with our words, our titles. «We today», however, the Pope underlines, «are all like the publican, we have our eyes lowered and we feel ashamed of our sins. Like him, we fall behind, clearing the space occupied by presumption, hypocrisy and pride. We could not invoke the name of God without asking forgiveness from our brothers and sisters, from the Earth and from all creatures. And how could we be a synodal Church without reconciliation? How could we say we want to walk together without receiving and giving the forgiveness that re-establishes communion in Christ?”. The Pope recalls that, «in the face of evil and innocent suffering we ask: where are you, Lord? But we must ask ourselves the question, and ask ourselves about the responsibilities we have when we fail to stop evil with good.” We cannot expect to resolve conflicts by fueling hatred or “redeem ourselves by causing pain, save ourselves with the death of the other. How can we pursue happiness paid for with the price of the unhappiness of our brothers and sisters?”, asks Francis.
And, on the eve of the Synod, “confession”, he explains, “is an opportunity to re-establish trust in the Church and towards her, trust broken by our errors and sins, and to begin to heal the wounds that never stop bleeding”. He recalls the prayer «of the Adsumus with which we will introduce the celebration of the Synod tomorrow: “We are oppressed here by the humanity of our sin”. We do not want this burden to slow down the progress of the Kingdom of God in history.”
It is true that we have made our share, even of mistakes, but we must continue with the mission. Francis addresses the young people “who are waiting for us to bear witness, asking forgiveness from you too if we have not been credible witnesses”. And, on the day in which the memory of Saint Tersa of the Child Jesus, “patron saint of missions”, is remembered, the Pope asks for the Saint’s intercession with a short pause of silence and with a prayer that reads: “O Father, we are here gathered together aware of needing your loving gaze. Our hands are empty, we can only receive what you can give us. We ask you for forgiveness for all our sins, help us restore your face that we have disfigured with our infidelity. We ask for forgiveness, feeling ashamed, from those who have been hurt by our sins. Give us the courage of sincere repentance for authentic conversion. We ask this by invoking the Holy Spirit so that he can fill the hearts you have created with his Grace, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen”.
