Editorial

Reconciliation: Potential and Limits of a Guiding Concept in Peace Ethics

Dear readers,

Early last year, the German bishops published their peace statement “Peace to this household”. In it, they reaffirm the central theme of Christian peace ethics: reconciliation and the associated process of dealing with a violent past. The “shaping presence” of a past burdened by violence continues to echo under the surface, according to the bishops, and hinders the development of good relationships. Therefore, as part of the approach to violence prevention, it is important not to let the past rest. Knowing the power of the deepest wounds, we should address the sufferings of others and conditions of injustice in a sensitive way.

Reconciliation must not be confused with superficial pacification, even if it may begin as such. It requires an inner element – the “transformation of enmity into friendship” (Lily Gardner Feldman), in order to prevent, as far as possible, any return to violent attempts at conflict resolution. This also means that such a process often takes place over generations, has to deal with setbacks despite some successes, and requires perseverance. As Jörg Lüer points out in his introductory essay, it is definitely not enough to invoke reconciliation as a kind of miracle cure in order to avoid uncomfortable truths and real resistance.

Our aim in this edition is to examine both the potential and the challenges of societal reconciliation processes. Drawing on numerous examples, Charalampos Babis Karpouchtsis looks at types of truth and the role of truth-seeking in post-conflict societies. Based on a case study from Columbia, Claudia Patricia Bueno Castellanos and Christoph Perleth describe the psychological devastation wrought in civil war societies, and the importance of therapeutic intervention. With an illustrated analysis of various memorial museums, Ljiljana Radonić shows how, to this day, the legacy of the Second World War lives on and is instrumentalized in the memory of the Yugoslav wars.

Kai Ambos and Susann Aboueldahab explore retribution and restoration as different approaches to criminal justice. They focus on the development of international criminal law and innovative models such as the Columbian Special Jurisdiction for Peace. In their articles, moral theologian Michael Rosenberger and philosopher Philipp Gisbertz-Astolfi then discuss what constitutes forgiveness, the virtues that underlie it, and the relationship between forgiveness and reconciliation. Finally, Armin Wildfeuer uses a process classification and typology of reconciliation to show how rational insight and prudence manifest themselves in reconciliation.

This year marks the anniversary of several events that challenge us to think about reconciliation, such as the end of the Second World War and the genocide of Srebrenica. When preparing this edition, we were impressed by the variety of different aspects covered by the individual articles and the numerous links between them: for example, the perpetrator-victim relationship, the painful truths that have to be endured, the relationship to justice, and the fundamental “unavailability” of reconciliation. This also applies to the special, where my colleague Kristina Tonn explains the concept of the workshop for military officers in Auschwitz that is co-organized by zebis.

Incidentally, KOMPASS, the magazine of the Catholic Military Chaplaincy, chose the same cover theme for its May issue. “Reconciliation is a process that cannot be completed,” says Markus Thurau in an interview there that is well worth reading. At least this edition of Ethics and Armed Forces is complete; as always, we would like to thank everyone who contributed to it, and hope that it provides you with many valuable insights and observations.