"To forgive", our beloved John Paul II again reminds us, "does not mean to forget", adding that "if memory is the law of history, forgiveness is the power of God, the power of Christ that works in the vicissitudes of man" (cf. Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, XVII/2 [1994], p. 250). Peace is, in the first place, a gift of God, who makes sentiments of love and solidarity arise in the heart of the person who welcomes it.