RECONCILIATION PROCESS

Narrative Narrative flows out of the primordial need to construct meaning in our lives, personal and social identity. As a human construct it is fragile especially in a time of complex and rapid change. Narrative can be a process of story telling whereby persons are able to disclose with vulnerability their authentic selves. It is dynamic and relational, integrating past into present. The listener recognises the truth of the other’s story and relates this to their own story.

Violence Perpetrators of systematic violence attempt to destroy the narratives that sustain people’s identities by substituting their own. If oppressed people begin to doubt their story (identity) they are under pressure to collude by adopting the oppressor’s story (definition of the situation). Hence essential to the reconciliation process is the healing of memories.

Reconciliation both individual and social Individual reconciliation takes place internally in the victim and leads to social consequences of forgiving the wrongdoer with the hope of leading the wrongdoer to repentance and perhaps restitution. Vulnerability is the condition for expressing the reconciling love of God, ie., one is able to acknowledge and honour one’s brokenness. One’s personal story becomes integrated with the Christ narrative of passion, death and resurrection. Social reconciliation is i) a process, ii) of reconstructing iii) the moral order of society by means of forgiveness and reconciliation rather than punishment. It seeks repentance and forgiveness (moral acts which cannot be forced by society) and may lead to amnesty and pardon (legal realities).

Christian Reconciliation Reconciliation is a process initiated by God of drawing persons and nations to discover their humanity (a new creation, 2 Cor 5:17) through forgiveness, repentance and reparation. “to reconcile” used only by Paul, 1) Christological – new relationship between humanity and God through the death of Christ. (2Cor5:7) 2) Ecclesiological – reconciling Jews and Gentiles – cultures. (Eph 2:12-18) 3) Cosmic – reconciling all powers and spirits (Col 1:19-22). 4) Trinitarian – co-ordination and unity is the work of the active grace of God, ie., of the Holy Spirit, holding together, not identifying, bringing into harmony the divinity of Christ and the Humanity of Christ – the model of all reconciliation.

Elements of a Faith Response 1. 2.

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Reconciliation is the work of God. Reconciliation is m9ore a spirituality than a strategy. Reconciliation makes of survivor and wrongdoer a new creation: a new humanity. The model of reconciliation is found in the story of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, transformation of violence into life. The process will be fulfilled only with the consummation of the world by God in Christ.

Contribution of Christian Community 1) 2) 3)

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Christian understanding of reconciliation. Ritual expressions of reconciliation Forming communities supportive of story-telling and listening. Public support of moral restructuring of society.

PHASES OF THE SOCIAL RECONCILIATION PROCESS

Initial or Genesis phase Major change is in the offing. The oppressed become more assertive against their oppressors, eg. Militancy against apartheid in South Africa. January 1938 Day of Mourning in Sydney. Calls for reconciliation refer to future challenges.

Transformation Phase Usually marked by an event of major symbolic significance, eg. The fall of the Berlin Wall 1989, release of Mandela, Mabo decision of the High Court. Release of social energy, visions of a possible reconciliation.

Readjustment stage a)

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Struggle to hang on to changes, eg. Wik legislation, saying sorry by the Federal Government. Steps have to be taken to implement changes of the vision. The coalition of resistance falls apart as disagreements emerge about priorities or order of priorities, eg. Treaty, as the violence of the past emerges. Danger of cynicism.

Reconciliation is foundationally relational. Something that persons must work at with other person. It is essentially concerned with broken and damaged relationships: between persons between nations between humankind and the rest of creation, and between humankind and God. Gerard Goldman

Who is involved? survivors wrong-doers bystanders, perhaps neighbours the dead future generations

Can the Church be a minister of Reconciliation? The Church cannot assume automatically that it has a mediating role between victims and oppressors. Because the Church mirrors society, it may find that the lines dividing society run right through the centre of the church… indeed a church can regain some of its legitimacy by seeking reconciliation within itself and reconciliation with the victims in society that it did not choose to heed. It is rare that such things happen. Robert Schreiter.