Loving thy neighbour comes with strings attached. Jesus taught Christians to forgive the person who wronged them; trading anger and retaliation for trust, tenderness and a rebuilt relationship. Of course, these instructions are easier said than done. The sobering reality upsets Rev. Leonel Narvaez, a Roman Catholic missionary priest from Colombia. "It causes me great sadness how we Christians know so little about forgiveness and reconciliation — especially when these things are at the core of our faith."
Educated at Cambridge and Harvard universities, Narvaez has spent almost 30 years working on conflict resolution and the peace-building process. In addition to living and working with nomads in the desert regions of Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia, and later in the Amazon rainforest in Colombia, Narvaez toiled for three years with a negotiation between the Colombian government and the leftist guerilla organization, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Helping nearly 8,000 guerilla soldiers reinsert themselves into regular society was, according to Narvaez, "a powerful experience."
Although the negotiations ultimately failed, the priest has received awards for other peace efforts, such as establishing nine schools of reconciliation and forgiveness in Colombia and Brazil. Narvaez was in Canada as the 2005 international visitor of the Canadian Churches Forum for Global Ministries, and spent a day in February at the Presbyterian Church's Toronto offices where he spoke about conflict resolution. "It's sad and scandalous that we don't know more about the method and process of forgiveness and reconciliation," he said.
Forgiving a neighbour can often seem an impossible achievement, but Narvaez said as Christians, we have little choice to do otherwise. "I must stress how difficult it is to forgive and reconcile for both victims and victimizers," he said during a sermon at church offices. "But Jesus reconciled us with God and appointed us as ministers of reconciliation."
Despite this calling, conflict resolution remains a difficult task. When the peace process with the guerillas in Colombia failed — where 90 per cent of the population is Catholic — Narvaez was deeply depressed. He had studied the process of reconciliation for years, and had "the magicians of conflict resolution" with him. Why then, did his efforts fail? "I realized one small thing was missing," he said. "We were using scientific methods, but we forgot the spiritual tool that lies in forgiveness."
Christ's love and mercy are essential ingredients when the hate and anger on both sides are indescribable, according to Narvaez. Understanding these primitive emotions is essential to solving problems, but letting go of them is often barred by a strong allegiance to memories. "Even in Christianity we celebrate memories when we remember the crime of the crucifixion," said Narvaez. "You must look at the memories of the victim and the victimizer and balance those memories so you're able to rebuild trust in the person who offended you."
When tempers have simmered down and anger has dissipated, objective causes of conflict such as economics, politics, and social issues must be dealt with immediately — issues that keep Colombia from attaining peace. If not solved, seeds of new conflict can begin to grow and violence will escalate. Because of its fragile nature, Narvaez said peace-building initiatives need the church's support. "We must pray for those who are learning to forgive and reconcile." – AM
