In his interview documented in The Name of God is Mercy, Pope Francis says that awareness of our sins is a grace we should ask from God.
Personally, I think this is the part of Pope Francis’ message which doesn’t get adequate coverage. Many questions come to my mind.
Is it mainly faulty coverage? Is it because Pope Francis chooses to focus more on the forgiveness aspect? If so, is this because he believes people know they are doing wrong, and he doesn’t want to further scare them away from God’s mercy? But then again, is that really the case for a lot of people? Or is it more common that people actually don’t believe they are sinning? Are these attitudes more prevalent in some countries than others? How does Pope Francis’ cultural context shape his outlook? In other words, I’m really wondering about what’s prudential. Do people need to hear about repentance, or do they need to hear about forgiveness? Then again, true prophets can’t ultimately address one without the other.
Sorry for the bombardment.
