In Focus: The Forgiveness Project -- and Book

Nearly a decade ago, Woodstock friend Phyllis Theroux telephoned Father James Connor, S.J., who was then the Center’s director, and drew his attention to a new book that would influence the future work of Woodstock. The book was An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics, a groundbreaking study by Donald W. Shriver, Jr., published by Oxford University Press.

Woodstock’s new book, Forgiveness in International Politics: An Alternative Road to Peace (paperback, $19.95), is available through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by calling 800-235-8722 or 202-722-8716. Among those offering early praise of the book are:

Mary Ann Glendon, professor of law, Harvard University, and president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences: “Timely and it is timeless, the message of Forgiveness in International Politics is more needed than ever at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Hennemeyer, Christiansen and Bole make such a convincing case that the surest path to peace is through forgiveness that one dares to hope their words will inspire many others to have the courage to set out upon that path.”
Douglas M. Johnston, president, International Center for Religion and Diplomacy: “In taking the concept of forgiveness to a deeper level, this book opens new vistas in the practice of international politics. . . . The authors have done a masterful job in addressing the operational implications of this powerful tool.”
Donald W. Shriver, Jr., president emeritus, Union Theological Seminary in New York: “For the healing of vast wrongs that we humans commit against each other, forgiveness is a journey from death to life. This clearly written, realistic, hopeful book will speed any reader on that journey.”

That book led Father Connor to arrange a Woodstock Forum featuring Shriver in November 1995. This event set in motion Woodstock’s multi-year project, “Forgiveness in Conflict Resolution: Reality and Utility.”

On May 4 of this year, Woodstock brought Shriver back to Georgetown for a final forum, coinciding with the publication of the Center’s new book on forgiveness – and wrapping up the project. (See coverage of forum in this issue.)

In between the two forums, Woodstock held four major colloquia in the second half of the 1990s. These conversations included a broad overview of forgiveness and conflict resolution, along with symposia that looked at the experiences of Northern Ireland and Bosnia as well as truth commissions.

Woodstock published reports of each of the colloquia. Afterward, the Center continued tracking the work of original participants and reconstituted an informal working group that analyzed themes and reviewed drafts of a final text.

The new book, Forgiveness in International Politics: An Alternative Road to Peace, is the fruit of those conversations. But it is also, in a sense, a conversation in itself –- a presentation of diverse voices from the communities in conflict as well as the professional arena of international conflict resolution.

Since the original Shriver forum, Woodstock has participated in a burgeoning international conversation about forgiveness and what role the concept could play in healing the political wounds of fractious societies. In South Africa, the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission headed by Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu played no small part in helping to make forgiveness a credible international proposition.

Still, the whole notion remains counter-intuitive, especially in the minds of diplomats and other policy makers. “I wouldn’t say it’s a popular view,” said project director and retired career foreign service officer Robert T. Hennemeyer, referring to the diplomatic corps. “But I would say there’s more awareness of it now, just as there’s more awareness of the utility of religious organizations in resolving conflicts.”

For Woodstock, the forgiveness project opened new channels of collaboration and conversation. Members of the official diplomatic community were represented at all stages of the project, as were people from non-governmental organizations specializing in conflict resolution.

Organizationally, Woodstock entered into significant collaboration with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB’s Office of International Justice and Peace helped organize the colloquia, and the office’s director, Gerard Powers, was a key member of the reconstituted working group.

Perhaps more significantly, the USCCB published the book, Forgiveness in International Politics, written by Woodstock fellows William Bole, Hennemeyer and Drew Christiansen, S.J., who was a senior fellow in residence at Woodstock during most years of the project. (The foreword to the book is by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C.) That breaks new ground not only for Woodstock but also for the bishops: USCCB publishing officials say this marks the first time they have published a book produced primarily outside the bishops’ conference.

Besides Powers and the book’s authors, other members of the working group included Shriver, Father Connor, Georgetown University social ethicist John Langan, S.J., retired diplomat Brandon Grove, and Harriet Hentges, executive vice president of the U.S. Institute of Peace (which provided a generous grant that launched the formal dialogues).

An earlier permutation of that group also included Douglas Johnston, now of the Washington-based International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, and Protestant social ethicist Alan Geyer. In an early meeting, the group decided to adapt and apply Shriver’s definition of forgiveness in politics –- as “an act that joins moral truth, forbearance, empathy, and commitment to repair a fractured human relation.”

That definition helped the project analyze a range of initiatives. Among them: truth commissions and facilitated small-group reconciliation as well as the ambiguous role of religious communities in both perpetuating conflict and promoting cultures of forgiveness. It also helped identify what the book calls “transactions of forgiveness,” such as acknowledgments of political atrocity and gestures of forbearance from revenge (of the kind offered by South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and South Korea’s Kim Dae Jung during the political transitions in those countries).

The project has ended, but Woodstock director Gasper F. Lo Biondo, S.J., who shepherded the initiative through its final phase, said Woodstock continues to examine forgiveness in relation to its other projects in other areas of research. These include economic globalization, inter-religious dialogue, Church leadership, preaching biblical justice, and the Catholic Church’s role in promoting civic renewal in the United States.

At the May 4 Woodstock Forum, Hennemeyer summarized the project’s contributions as follows:

“First, it helped us develop and refine a useful definition of forgiveness as a prophetic act and as a process. Second, it highlighted the utility of institutionalized religion as a significant instrument in encouraging forgiveness and/or reconciliation. Third, we identified specific techniques for initiating a process of communication and understanding that can culminate in forgiveness and reconciliation.”

He added, “Our conclusions are tentative and our study is only a beginning, but we are persuaded that forgiveness is real, that it can be inspired and encouraged, and that it has a genuine role in conflict resolution.”