Quatenus filiis vel propinquis, si peccaverint, parcere debeat
The Call to Mercy and Confession
A ruler must honor the bonds of kinship and learn from Scripture that confession and repentance, not concealment, lead to mercy, as David showed in his humble amendment of sin.
But a ruler must be attentive to the obligations of kinship, since this is also something he ought to attend to in others, as it is written: Whoever hides their wicked deeds will not be guided aright; but whoever has confessed and abandoned them will obtain mercy (Prov. XXVIII, 12); for it is written: Turn away from evil and do good, and dwell in the age of the age (Psal. XXXVI, 27.) Because confession alone is not enough for someone who confesses and repents, unless amendment of deed follows as well, so that the penitent does not do the things that need repentance — just as holy David, who after he heard from the prophet, Your sin is forgiven (II Reg. XII, 13), became more humble in amending his sin, so that he would eat ashes like bread and mix his drink with weeping (Psal. CI). As blessed Gregory often says (Moral. lib.
Confession Must Be Joined with Sorrow
True confession requires not only admitting sin but also grieving over it, lest the exposed wound of sin fester without the healing sorrow of repentance.
8, c. 21), and the wicked confess their sins, but refuse to think on them. The elect, by contrast, open their faults with the words of confession and then pursue them with the tears of strict self-examination. So the prophet, after pledging himself to declare his wickedness, added that he would also think upon it. If he were to say openly, "My tongue speaks its guilt in such a way that the Spirit does not wander off free of sorrow's sting into other things; rather, in speaking of my faults I open the wound, and in thinking of my faults with a view to amendment, I seek the healing of the wound through the medicine of sorrow— for whoever does bring forward the evils he has committed, yet refuses to weep over what he has brought forward, uncovers the wound as if he had pulled away his garment, but will not apply medicine to it with a sluggish mind. Therefore, when confession is voiced alone, sorrow must do its work of torment, lest the wound, once brought out and neglected — and now touched more freely through human knowledge — rot for the worse. So the psalmist not only laid bare the wounds of his heart, but once they were laid bare applied the medicine of sorrow as well, saying, "I will declare my wickedness, and will think upon my sin" (Ps.
Mercy Tempered by the Good of the Whole
Rulers should spare repentant sons or kin, yet the peace of the Church must take precedence over even the dearest love, as God did not spare His own Son for our sake.
37, 19). For by confessing aloud, you uncover a hidden wound; but by reflecting on it, what else are you applying to the wound except a remedy? But to a troubled mind anxiously dwelling on its own losses, a quarrel with itself arises against itself. For when it stirs itself toward the lamentations of repentance, it secretly tears itself apart with self-reproach. In this way, then, rulers ought to spare their sons or relatives if they have sinned, provided they acknowledge their fault and repent; otherwise they are to exercise punishment against sinners according to the measure of the fault. For if God the Father, as the Apostle says, did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us all (Rom.✦ 8, 32), and yet the Father loved the Son, whom he sent to his passion, who, as the Apostle likewise says, handed himself over for the Church (Eph.✦ 5), the peace of the universal Church and its general stability must necessarily take precedence even over love for the beloved, and much more so over a degenerate son.
Read the original Latin
Attendat autem princeps in propinquitatis necessitudinibus, quod et in aliis debet attendere, id quod scriptum est: Qui abscondit scelera sua, non dirigetur; qui autem confessus fuerit, et reliquerit ea, misericordiam consequetur (Prov. XXVIII, 12); quia scriptum est: Declina a malo, et fac bonum, et inhabita in saeculum saeculi (Psal. XXXVI, 27.) Quia confitenti et poenitenti non sufficit sola confessio, nisi et subsequatur facti emendatio, ut poenitens poenitenda non faciat, sicut David sanctus, qui postquam audivit a propheta: Dimissum est peccatum tuum (II Reg. XII, 13), humilior factus est in emendatione peccati, ita ut cinerem sicut panem manducaret, et potum suum cum fletu misceret (Psal. CI). « Quia saepe, ut beatus dicit Gregorius (Moral. lib.
VIII, c. 21), et reprobi peccata confitentur, sed de his cogitare contemnunt. Electi autem culpas suas, quas vocibus confessionis aperiunt, districtae animadversionis fletibus insequuntur. Unde et propheta, postquam se iniquitatem suam pronuntiare spopondit, cogitare se etiam de eis subdidit. Ac si aperte fateretur dicens: Sic reatum lingua loquitur, ut nequaquam expers a moeroris stimulo per alia Spiritus vagetur: sed culpas loquens vulnus aperio; culpas vero ad correctionem cogitans, salutem vulneris ex medicamine moeroris quaero. Qui enim mala quidem quae perpetravit insinuat, sed flere quae insinuaverit recusat, quasi subducta veste vulnus detegit, sed torpenti mente medicamentum vulneri non apponit. Confessionis igitur vocem solus necesse est ut moeror excruciet, ne vulnus productum et neglectum, quo licentius jam per humanam notitiam tangitur, deterius putrescat. Psalmista ergo plagas cordis non solum detexerat, sed detectis etiam medicamentum moeroris adhibebat, dicens: Iniquitatem meam ego pronuntio, et cogitabo pro peccato meo (Psal.
XXXVII, 19). Pronuntiando enim occultum vulnus detegit; cogitando autem quid aliud quam medicamentum vulneri apponit? Sed afflictae menti, et sua sollicite damna cogitanti, rixa pro semetipsa oritur contra semetipsam. Nam cum se ad lamenta poenitentiae instigat, occulta se increpatione dilaniat. » Hoc modo principes filiis vel propinquis, si peccaverint, recognoscentibus ac poenitentibus parcere debet, alioquin vindictam secundum modum culpae in peccantes exercere. Si enim Deus Pater, ut dicit Apostolus, proprio Filio non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum (Rom. VIII, 32), et tamen Pater amavit Filium, quem ad passionem misit, qui, ut item dicit Apostolus, se pro Ecclesia tradidit (Ephes. V), necessario praeponderare debet pax Ecclesiae universalis, et soliditas generalis, dilectioni etiam dilecti, multo magis autem degeneris filii.
Scripture echoes
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