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5.3. The Use of Force in the Service
of Truth
To the counter-witness of the division
between Christians should be added that of the various occasions in the past
millennium when doubtful means were employed in the pursuit of good ends, such
as the proclamation of the Gospel or the defense of the unity of the faith.
“Another sad chapter of history to which the sons and daughters of the Church
must return with a spirit of repentance is that of the acquiescence given,
especially in certain centuries, to intolerance and even the use of force in
the service of truth.”78 This refers to forms of evangelization that
employed improper means to announce the revealed truth or did not include an
evangelical discernment suited to the cultural values of peoples or did not
respect the consciences of the persons to whom the faith was presented, as well
as all forms of force used in the repression and correction of errors.
Analogous attention should be paid to all
the failures, for which the sons and daughters of the Church may have been
responsible, to denounce injustice and violence in the great variety of
historical situations: “Then there is the lack of discernment by many
Christians in situations where basic human rights were violated. The request
for forgiveness applies to whatever should have been done or was passed over in
silence because of weakness or bad judgement, to what was done or said
hesitantly or inappropriately.”79
As always, establishing the historical truth
by means of historical-critical research is decisive. Once the facts have been
established, it will be necessary to evaluate their spiritual and moral value,
as well as their objective significance. Only thus will it be possible to avoid
every form of mythical memory and reach a fair critical memory capable - in the
light of faith - of producing fruits of conversion and renewal. “From these
painful moments of the past a lesson can be drawn for the future, leading all
Christians to adhere fully to the sublime principle stated by the Council: ‘The
truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it wins over
the mind with both gentleness and power.’”80
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