Pope Francis said: “An offense is overcome with forgiveness, by living in peace with everyone.” What about Justice?
Sin is before all else an offense against God. Why does the Catholic Church make punishment a part of the sacrament of Penance?
Why does the church preach about punishment for the guilty after death?

 What fact of reality gave rise to the concept “justice”? Answer: The fact that individuals must draw conclusions about the things, people and events around them, i.e., must judge and evaluate them. Is human judgment automatically right? No. What causes judgment to be wrong? The lack of sufficient evidence, or the evasion of the evidence, or the inclusion of considerations other than the facts of the case.

How, then, is one to arrive at the right judgment? By basing it exclusively on the factual evidence and by considering all the relevant evidence available. But isn’t this a description of “objectivity”? Yes, “objective judgment” is one of the wider categories to which the concept “justice” belongs.

What distinguishes “justice” from other instances of objective judgment? When one evaluates the nature or actions of inanimate objects, the criterion of judgment is determined by the particular purpose for which one evaluates them. But how does one determine a criterion for evaluating the character and actions of people, in view of the fact that people possess the faculty of volition?

What science can provide an objective criterion of evaluation in regard to volitional matters? Ethics. Now, do I need a concept to designate the act of judging a man’s character and/or actions exclusively on the basis of all the factual evidence available, and of evaluating it by means of an objective moral criterion? Yes. That concept is “justice.”

That’s what the Pope is fighting against. Justice requires punishment. Forgiveness is not in the hands of the person committing a sin. It’s in the hands of the people who judge. that’s what the Pope should do instead of condemning justice as he did when he spoke of the mis-application of justice by crushing it with forgiveness.

Western law requires penalties for the breach of law. Imagine if the Pope idea was implemented after a trial. Convicted criminals would be forgiven and let loose upon society to commit more crime.  

President Trump should be given an apology when he arrives in the Vatican to visit with the Pope. 

 

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