Reconciliation is an intensely sought...

Reconciliation is an intensely sought but elusive goal. Part of the difficulty is the sheer enormity of the task, so great that it seems well-nigh unachievable. For it is not only a matter of healing memories and receiving forgiveness, it is also about changing the structures in society that provoked, promoted, and sustained violence. Reconciliation is also elusive because people sometimes seek the wrong things from the wrong people at the wrong time. When should repentance be required or forgiveness sought? Can a reconciliation program be put into place? How and when should the perpetrator of violence and the victim be brought together? Our impatience at getting beyond the sometimes unbearable burdens of the past may actually impede any possible reconciliation process as much as support it.