Ara Pacis Initiative - Consiglio per la Dignità, il Perdono, la Giustizia e la Riconciliazione

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Hannah Arendt
"Forgiving… is the only reaction which does not merely re-act but acts anew and unexpectedly, unconditioned by the act which provoked it and therefore freeing from its consequences both the one who forgives and the one who is forgiven."
Donald W. Shriver Jr.
"Forgiveness in a political context is action that joins moral truth, forbearance, empathy and commitment to repair a fractured human relation. Such a combination calls for collective turning from the past that neither ignores past evil nor excuses it, that neither overlooks justice nor reduces justice to revenge that insists on the humanity of enemies even in their commission of dehumanizing deeds and that values the justice that restores political community above a justice that destroys it."
Geraldine Smyth
"Hope is the horizon of forgiveness and reconciliation, for it is grounded in making the impossible possible real – that the human person is capable of change and of being changed in the very place where the hurt or sin imprisons all concerned – in the relationship of enmity. Under the horizon of hope memories of enmity can find econciliation. The hope within forgiveness does not presume prior repentance, but in its gratuitousness, it makes healing and new beginnings possible even though the pain and the wounds remain."
Rasha El-Fangry
"The extent and frequency with which forgiveness is called for has depleted its value and has made it a mere slogan repeated here and there. This is manifest in incidents of conflict restarting even after calls for forgiveness has been accepted. However experiences elsewhere in the continent show how effective forgiveness actually is."
Izzeldin Abuelaish
"Most people assume that forgiveness is difficult, but in the long run it is easier to forgive than to live with hatred or be consumed with revenge, with all the medical consequences. Forgiveness will help you move forward, away from the pain of the past and to be focused on the future, with all its brightness. Indeed, forgiveness opens the door to a future that will not repeat the old tragedies. Sometimes the beauty in forgiveness is to forgive when you do not know whom to forgive, when no one asks you for forgiveness. But whatever the situation, to err is human but to forgive is truly divine"
Riccardo Di Segni
“Forgiveness is a moral repairing of identity, it’s the water erasing the stain of guilt and dousing the fire of resentment.”
Enzo Bianchi
“Forgiveness is not a failure, it is not a defeat, but rather a great victory over oneself, it is a journey of humanization of oneself and the enemy. Forgiveness is not “just letting it go” by someone who is unconscious of the wrong done, nor is it the wise calculation of a just philanthropist: it is a conscious and responsible choice which states that love is stronger than hate so as to break the chain of animosity and vengeance.”
Edith Bruck
“I am a writer-witness who sings about life and peace, who searches and believes in the good of every human being, perhaps buried by layers of sick ideologies of stratified hatred. Good that is unveiled to man himself who transforms it into evil in order to become one of the club, as is done by today’s youth. The only possible instrument is dialogue, removed from politics. Love from human to human which has real and profound civil and spiritual meaning, which is capable of capturing and fertilizing pacifism between individuals, groups, ethnicities and religions.”
Letlapa Mphahlele
“Forgiveness is both conditional and unconditional, depending on the circumstances. If a person slaps you in the face, you may forgive them unconditionally. However, if a person occupies your house, and he pleads with you to forgive him, while making no effort to vacate the house, then forgiveness becomes conditional on him leaving the house. Forgiveness should never be used as a synonym of surrender.”
Fabiola Perdomo
“In my opinion reconciliation does not mean trying to make friends out of victims and perpetrators. Reconciliation means repairing, healing, and freeing the victims from their burden. But it needs to be done from the heart, it cannot be something only for the spotlight, it must be something felt deeply, that comes from the heart otherwise no reconciliation process can work, and incomplete reconciliation can be very dangerous as painful wounds are reopened.”

What is the Ara Pacis Initiative?

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The Ara Pacis Initiative is a global non-profit organization dedicated to the human dimension of peace. Cornerstone of the Ara Pacis Initiative is the Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliation, a universal body working in pre-, ongoing and post-conflict realities.

Members of the Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliation

 

See all the Members

 

"One Day After Peace" Featuring Robi Damelin

29 April 2012 - "One Day After Peace", a powerful documentary featuring Robi Damelin premieres today at Canada's Hot Docs film festival. A film by Erez Laufer and Miri laufer, "One Day After Peace" explores whether the means used to resolve the conflict in South Africa can be applied to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Born in South Africa during the apartheid era, and later losing her son, who was serving with the Israeli Army reserve in the Occupied Territories, Robi Damelin has experienced both conflicts firsthand. Robi's thought-provoking journey leads from a place of deep personal pain to a belief that a better future is possible...Read more

Dr. Abuelaish Receives Calgary Peace Prize

8 March 2012 - The Consortium for Peace Studies at the University of Calgary awarded the sixth annual Calgary Peace Prize to Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, leading doctor, professor and author from Gaza and Member of the Ara Pacis Initiative Council for Dignity, Forgiveness, Justice and Reconciliation. The Consortium noted that "his condemnation of violence and his unwavering commitment to promoting peace made him an outstanding nominee. We are honored to recognize the strength of his conviction to neither hate nor seek revenge, and the multiple ways in which he brings this vital message not only to Israelis and Palestinians, but also to the global community." Read more

Leymah Gbowee Accepts Nobel Peace Prize

10 December 2011 - Leymah Gbowee received today the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize together with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen.  Speaking at Oslo City Hall during the Awards Ceremony, Leymah underlined that "the prize not only recognizes our struggle in Liberia and Yemen...but in every troubled corner in the world". She went on to thank the tireless efforts of the women of Liberia's peace movement, who never imagined that their efforts would receive such prestigious recognition. "We worked daily confronting warlords, refusing to be silent, using the invincible power of non-violence, using our broken bodies to stare down barrels of guns...we represented the soul of a nation...we did so because we felt it was our moral duty as mothers, as women"  Read more

 

Forgiveness

by Donald W. Shriver Jr.

Il perdono

""Forgiveness in a political context is an act that joins moral truth, forbearance, empathy and commitment to repair a fractured human relation. Such a combination calls for a collective turning from the past that neither ignores past evil nor excuses it, that neither overlooks justice nor reduces justice to revenge, that insists on the humanity of enemies even in their commission of dehumanizing deeds, and that values the justice that restores political community above the justice that destroys it.

As such a multidimensional human action, forgiveness might be compared to a twisted four-strand cable, which over time intertwines with the enemy's responses to form the double bond of new politics.

No one element in this cable carries the weight of the action; each assumes and depends upon the others. At any one time, one may have greater prominence in the negotiation, and all of them come up for repeated attention as the relationship grows more secure - e. g., forbearance can prompt a start toward confession of wrong, empathy can deepen that confession, as new political ties embody the purpose of the transaction.

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Introduction to Meditations on Forgiveness

Preface, by Maria Nicoletta Gaida

When I was a child, I spent many nights awake, wondering why the world was not just, why some had everything and even more and others had less than nothing; why there were men, women and children who had no education, no prospect or possibility; why their dignity was trampled upon and, in many cases, their human rights denied. I wondered why there was war, why the leaders of the world couldn’t share and apologize as we were taught to do at home.

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