Spending most of her life in Armentières, a northern small French town bordering Belgium, Roseline Hamel, 84, would never have expected it to take such a dramatic turn when her brother, Jacques, 86, was murdered while celebrating Mass at his little church
We sometimes hear the admonition that we should “forgive and forget.” The implication is that authentic forgiveness of a transgression necessarily implies forgetting the offense. Yet memory is an important part of our moral development. It helps both parties become better people.
When they learned their 23-year-old son Michael Echaniz had been murdered in March 2022, John and Sharon Echaniz began a journey through the stages of grief, and (although they admit there is work to be done) they offered their son's killer forgiveness.
Be prepared for Mass this Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In this week’s Opening the Word Scripture reflection, columnist Catherine Cavadini summarizes the Gospel: “We must love ‘as’ the king loves, and so we must forgive ‘as’ he forgives through an imitation
Be ready for Mass on the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Father Joshua Whitfield reflects on the words “against you” in Matthew’s Gospel, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” With the
In early July, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the archbishop of Munich, in Germany, acknowledged, and asked forgiveness for, the conduct of deceased Auxiliary Bishop of Munich Matthias Defregger, who died in 1995. During World War II, Captain Defregger oversaw the destruction of Filetto
Gretchen Crowe, editor-in-chief of OSV News has written a new book. She tells the story: “Four years ago, I watched a video on YouTube of a woman who was doing impressive work caring for underserved children in downtown Columbus, Ohio. She’d started
The world will keep witnessing wars, violence and injustice as long as people fail to understand that true freedom comes from seeking God's will, love and mercy, Pope Francis said.
Only when one's heart is filled with mercy can life be lived with
Even though it takes more strength to forgive than to wage war, forgiveness is the only feasible weapon that can be used against every conflict, Pope Francis said.
"Evil is never defeated by evil, but only with good," he said in an interview
OSV columnist David Mills looks closely at a friendship that had dissolved, writing: “I spend some time at every Mass thanking God for my friends, bringing to mind a picture of each one as I pray for them, partly as a way