6.1 The Pastoral Aims

The following are some of the pastoral reasons for acknowledging the faults of the past.

First, these acts tend towards the purification of memory, which – as noted above – is a process aimed at a new evaluation of the past, capable of having a considerable effect on the present, because past sins frequently make their weight felt and remain temptations in the present as well. Above all, if the causes of possible resentment for evils suffered and the negative influences stemming from what was done in the past can be removed as a result of dialogue and the patient search for mutual understanding with those who feel injured by words and deeds of the past, such a removal may help the community of the Church grow in holiness through reconciliation and peace in obedience to the Truth. “Acknowledging the weaknesses of the past,” the Pope emphasizes, “is an act of honesty and courage which helps us to strengthen our faith, which alerts us to face today’s temptations and challenges, and prepares us to meet them.”⁹¹ To that end, it is good that the remembering of faults also includes all possible omissions, even if only some of these are mentioned frequently today. One should not forget the price paid by many Christians for their fidelity to the Gospel and for their service to their neighbor in charity. ⁹²

A second pastoral aim, closely connected to the first, is the promotion of the continual reform of the People of God. “Therefore, if the influence of events or of the times has led to deficiencies in moral conduct, in Church discipline, or even in the way in which doctrine is expressed (which must be carefully distinguished from the deposit of the faith itself), these should be appropriately rectified at the proper moment.”⁹³ All of the baptized are called to “examine their fidelity to the will of Christ concerning the Church, and as required, strenuously undertake the work of renewal and reform.”⁹⁴ The criterion of true reform and of authentic renewal must be fidelity to the will of God regarding his people⁹⁵ that presupposes a sincere effort to free oneself from all that leads away from his will, whether we are dealing with present faults or the inheritance from the past.

A further aim can be seen to be the witness that the Church gives to the God of mercy and to his liberating and saving Truth, from the experience which she has had and continues to have of him in history. There is also the service which the Church in this way gives to humanity to help overcome current evils. John Paul II states that “many Cardinals and Bishops expressed the desire for a serious examination of conscience above all on the part of the Church today. On the threshold of the new millennium Christians need to place themselves humbly before the Lord and examine themselves on the responsibility which they too have for the evils of our day”⁹⁶ in order to help overcome them in obedience to the splendor of saving Truth.