Jesus taught Christians to forgive, but it is not easy to do.

On the cross, Jesus prayed, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” He also told us many parables about forgiveness, especially the one about the servant who was forgiven a debt and then refused to forgive his debtor. In the Lord’s Prayer, he also has us pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Forgiveness is an essential part of Christ’s message. I wish it were easy, but it is not. Since I have some Irish blood, I can repeat the joke about Irish Alzheimer’s, where the person forgets everything but his or her grudges, but any ethic group can be inserted in this joke.

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In a dense 6,200-word address to the Royal Courts of Justice, Archbishop Rowan Williams hoped to initiate a scholarly discussion of the relationship between Islamic law and the statutory law of the United Kingdom. Instead, the archbishop of Canterbury found himself in the middle of a firestorm as pundits quoted him out of context and called for his resignation.

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The Question: Pope Benedict's recent baptism of a well-known Italian Muslim has prompted criticism in much of the Islamic world. Has Benedict done enough to build bridges to Islam?

There is no question that Pope Benedict has a great respect for religious faith of Muslims. In fact, he wishes European Catholics were as devout as Muslims. He supports interreligious dialogue with Muslims in the hope that Muslims and Christians can work together for justice and peace in the world.

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