“The past is never simply the past,” said Pope Benedict XVI last week. “It always has something to say to us; it tells us the paths to take and the paths not to take.” He was speaking in the stark surroundings of Auschwitz, once a place of unspeakable horror, suffering and death.

The Pope did not use his visit as a platform to speak out against present day anti-Semitism in the way some had hoped. He saw it as an opportunity to beg for “the grace of reconciliation” from God, “who alone can open and purify our hearts,” and to seek this grace for all those who suffer in new ways through acts of hatred and violence.

In a speech remarkable for its earthiness and poignancy, the Holy Father asked: “Why, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this?”

He was speaking not only on behalf of those who still seek to come to terms with the actions of the “vicious criminals” during the Second World War but for all who have suffered in the past and those who continue to suffer today in ways that often incline one to silence.

Today, the public is often more aware of the violence and destruction occurring in Indonesia and the Sudan’s Dafur region than it is of the abuse in the neighbourhood.

Rev Cyril Paul, president of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO), warned last week in his address at the organisation’s annual general meeting that very likely what the public knows of the sexual abuse of children and young people in the society, “as horrible as it has been, is just but the tip of the iceberg.” 

What the Spirit brings

The IRO intends to engage all its members and the rest of the national community “to do everything possible” to address the complex problems related to the sexual abuse of children. Their plans will require the commitment of all.

The scars caused by sexual abuse, domestic violence and terrorism do not heal easily and sometimes never do. The overall impact of these evil actions weighs heavily on society, affecting the lives of all citizens.

The Holy Father’s address was significant for a number of reasons but none more so than for the way in which it sounded the depths of human anguish, while managing to offer hope. Hope because the Lord is among his people and because there are paths that enlightened men and women can choose to take.

“Our cry to God,” said the Pope, “must also be a cry that pierces our very heart, a cry that awakens within us God’s hidden presence—so that his power, the power he has planted in our hearts, will not be buried or choked within us by the mire of selfishness, pusillanimity, indifference or opportunism.”

These negatives find their antidote in what the Spirit of God brings: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22).

This Sunday, the Church celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It will once more implore the Spirit of truth to come in a new and powerful way upon the Church and the world. May it find a people more trusting of its presence and more docile to its guidance.

“Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).