No justice without mercy, Pope says in homily
March 23, 2015
“Where there is no mercy there is no justice,” Pope Francis said in his homily at Mass on March 23.
Commenting on the day’s Gospel reading, which recounted the story of the woman caught in adultery, the Pope said that the men who had judged her “thought they were pure because they observed the law.” In fact, he said, they were hypocrites, because they too were sinners, but did not recognize their own faults. The Pope observed that “this kind of rigidity leads one to live a double life.”
Too often, the Pontiff continued, judges—in the Church as well as in the secular world—stand ready to condemn people. “When God’s people come close asking for forgiveness, it often finds itself condemned by one of these judges.” The Pope said: “With such rigidity, one cannot breathe.”
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Posted by: shrink -
Mar. 23, 2015 7:23 PM ET USA
This is not the standard teaching from St Thomas. In view of ST, it is not correct to say that justice presupposes mercy. Rather, ST says that Mercy presupposes Justice. (ST2-2 Q30 Art2), even as mercy is a greater virtue than justice. Mercy is charity under the aspect of relieving distress, whereas Justice can be viewed under charity as an aspect of maintaining or restoring order. St Thomas emphasizes that where there is voluntary fault, punishment is required to restore order.
