News
Forgiveness Essential in Africa
“Forgiveness must become an essential element of African culture,” says Jesuit Father Adrien Lentiampa Sheng, speaking in Rome on January 11 at a conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In his speech, the priest explained how forgiveness within African culture and tradition is regarded as a supreme value that translates into respect for the family and other human communities. Watch an interview with Father Sheng.
Dr. Enright Speaks at Padua, Italy Conference
On Saturday, Feb. 4, Dr. Robert Enright addressed an audience in Padua, Italy on the theme of healing through forgiveness. The audience consisted of people with an interest in using forgiveness as a means to become emotionally healthier as a result of injustices against them.
The largest reaction from the audience was their surprise about what forgiveness is and is not. The question and answer session (with answers from both Dr. Enright and Amber Flesch, IFI Forgiveness Program Manager) centered at first on this issue of the definition of forgiveness. Many said they thought forgiveness: a) included automatic reconciliation; b) was a simple–and distorted–idea of just saying “I forgive you,” and, c) encompassed just letting the offense go.
People seemed energized and happy to hear that forgiveness is a virtue, contered in mercy, in which one gives up resentment and offers goodness toward an offender, but does not include excusing, letting an offense go, abandoning justice, or automatically reconciling.
If I hadn’t learned to forgive, I may not even be alive today.
Read the dramatic story of Jayne Valseca whose treatment at Cancer Treatment Centers of America included forgiveness therapy. Watch a short video about the amazing power forgiveness has had on her life and on those around her. You’ll be amazed. Click here.
What Does Forgiveness Have to Do With Depression?
Forgiving is vital to overcoming depression, according to a number of researchers and authors. Robert Enright, among other researchers, found that college students were less forgiving and more anxious than their parents. Why? Because their parents had learned to forgive. Read the full article here.
Immediate January Term Internship Opportunity
Despite 14 years of civil war, the future of Liberia is not without hope. In partnership with Dr. Robert Enright, licensed psychologist and professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the International Forgiveness Institute, Inc., and Grace Network, the Student Mobilization Centre is seeking students and volunteers to help teach Enright’s Forgiveness Education curriculum to primary school teachers in Liberia. To read more about this opportunity click here.
