11. As an act of gratuitous love, forgiveness has its own demands:  the evil which has been done must be acknowledged and, as far as possible, corrected (cf. ibid., n. 5). The primary demand is therefore respect for truth. Lying, untrustworthiness, corruption, and ideological or political manipulation make it impossible to restore peaceful social relations. Hence the importance of procedures which allow truth to be established. Such procedures are necessary but delicate, for the search for truth risks becoming a thirst for vengeance. Often as part of such a process governments grant "amnesty to those who have publicly admitted crimes committed during a period of turmoil.

Such an initiative can be judged favourably as an effort to promote good relations between groups previously opposed to one another" (ibid.). To the requirement of truth there must be added a second:  justice. For "forgiveness neither eliminates or lessens the need for the reparation which justice requires, but seeks to reintegrate individuals and groups into society, and States into the community of Nations" (ibid.). Such justice must respect the fundamental dignity of the human person at all times.