Chapter 7

Love and mercy towards sinners

Mature Brother – […] Ubertino says that there should be great discretion and charity in this matter, since superiors often withhold the authority to absolve reserved sins to such an extent that the wretches do not dare to have recourse to them. Therefore they fall from sin to sin and remain enmeshed for long periods. Often the superiors proceed without discretion, making the offenders known, transferring them or depriving them of office, or threatening them with harsh words which creates serious danger for souls and is prejudicial to the seal of confession. This is what he says. Superiors are even more reprehensible when they are not simply motivated by zeal, but by the desire to gain a reputation for being zealous and threatening and when they call cruelty and ambition [115r] zeal. Prelatus pronior esse debet ad miserendum quam ad puniendum.

Writing to a Minister Saint Francis says: “If anyone who has sinned comes to you, with whatever sin it might be, see to it that he never leaves you without mercy. If he comes back a thousand times, love him more than ever, so that you can lead him back to God and always have compassion on such a person and command that the brothers who know about this do not speak about it or inflict any injury on him. Let them keep that sin a secret, so that when the wretch sees that he has been discovered he will not despair or become incorrigible out of shame. Non enim habent opus medico sani, sed male habentes, ait Dominus. Let him receive sinners with great kindness and thus provide for the salvation of the soul of your poor little sheep as you would wish to be done to you in similar circumstances.” This is what blessed Francis said […]