“Let us forgive and ask forgiveness!” In his homily at St. Peter’s Basilica on the first Sunday in Lent, Pope John Paul II made this statement twice so as to emphasize its importance.

The pope called upon members of the Catholic Church to “confess the sins of Christians of yesterday along with their own.” Explaining why Catholics should accept responsibility for those who lived long ago, he added: “We all carry the weight of the errors and sins of those who have preceded us, even if we aren’t personally responsible.”

To make this request for forgiveness even more dramatic, seven cardinals and bishops confessed the sins of Christians against specific groups of people. The first acknowledged sins against the Jews and asked God to purify the hearts of those who have committed them.

Other groups that were named included women, native peoples, immigrants, the poor, and the unborn. To each prayer the pope responded with a prayer of his own, again asking forgiveness.

The pope went further in confessing the responsibility of church members for the evils of today. Among them he mentioned specifically failure to care about the poor of many countries.

The spiritual meaning of these actions by the pope is wide and deep. In taking this unprecedented step to purify the conscience of his church, the pope is surely carrying out what he sees as the will of God.

In the whole history of the Christian church, nothing quite like this has been done previously. You can be sure that the effects of this act of atonement will have a large impact on religious history.

However, despite its scope, this action on the part of the pope has already proven a lightening rod for criticism. Almost immediately after the statement was publicized, people began to find fault with what the pope said.

The criticisms come in four main forms. First, many say that, welcome as the request for forgiveness is, it does not go far enough. For instance, the apology about mistreatment of the Jews does not mention the Holocaust, the slaughter of Jewish people engineered by the Nazis. Nor does the prayer about “sins commit-ted in the service of truth” say anything specific about the Crusades and the Inquisition.

Secondly, the various prayers of confession do not accuse the church itself of sin but only its members. In the effort to keep the holiness of the Church sa-cred, the pope seems to exempt the institution from direct responsibility. Only individual people, “the children of the church,” are seen as guilty of immoral behavior.

Thirdly, some observers feel that asking forgiveness does not amount to much more than political correctness. “Everybody is apologizing for everything, these days,” a friend told me last week. “It has become the stylish thing to do.”

Finally, even some fervent Catholics feel no responsibility for sins com-mitted by people who lived long ago and far away. As another friend says, “I do not feel involved in what they did and the request for their forgiveness leaves me cold.” This was said by a woman who is both humanly sensitive and deeply spiritual.

All of these objections have something to be said for them perhaps. But it seems to me that they are beside the main point. They ignore the spiritual courage of a leader determined to set his church on a new course. Despite opposition even within the Vatican itself, this pope has done something bold that no one of his predecessors dared do.

To move an institution with a billion members and a two-thousand year history takes tremendous dedication. That John Paul II, in his eightieth year, has managed to bring his church this far witnesses to a deep and fruitful spiritual life. This accomplishment must be judged, not simply in political terms, however re-fined, but also from the viewpoint of the soul.

It is important to realize that the pope is a person for whom the spiritual life is all-important. As Protestant theologian Harvey Cox says, “John Paul II is a genuine mystic.” This fact may be the key to understanding the pope’s dramatic asking for forgiveness.

To take an action of this scope requires great strength of soul and a deep belief in the power of the divine to change human life.

Richard Griffin