The magistrates and judges of Italy and of Vatican City were reminded by the Pope that the application of justice is not an abstraction or a utopia, but a virtue that they must cultivate and exercise.
“Justice is not an abstraction or a utopia. In the Bible, it is the honest and faithful fulfillment of every duty towards God, it is doing his will”, the Holy Father commented on 25 February, at the inauguration of the 94th Judicial Year of the Vatican City State Court.
He also explained that justice “is not only the result of a set of rules that are applied with technical skill”, but “the virtue by which we give each one what corresponds to him”.
It is “essential for the proper functioning of each area of common life and for everyone to lead a peaceful life,” he stressed.
Senior officials of the Italian justice system participated in the inauguration, such as the Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio, and the Undersecretary of the Prime Minister, Alfredo Mantovano.
Also present were the President of the Vatican Tribunal, Giuseppe Pignatone, and the Promoter of Justice, Alessandro Diddi, together with the magistrates of their respective offices.
Pope Francis stressed that the virtue of justice “must be cultivated through the commitment to personal conversion and exercised together with the other cardinal virtues of prudence, fortitude and temperance.”
“This virtue is entrusted in an eminent way to the responsibility of those who intervene in the judicial field, to allow the restoration of the violated peace between the various subjects of the community who are in conflict with each other,” he explained.
The Holy Father stressed that the Church always “fulfills her mandate, especially when she bears witness, in word and deed, to the mercy that she herself has freely received.”
For this reason, he urged them, with that same “attitude of mercy and closeness”, to look “at our brothers and sisters, especially when they are in difficulty when they make mistakes when they are subjected to the test of judgment”.
A situation to put mercy into practice, he points out, occurs “when it comes to verifying behaviors that darken the face of the Church and cause scandal in the community of the faithful.”
“To this end, the exercise of rigorous discernment helps, which ‘avoids the development of a cold desk morality in dealing with the most delicate issues,'” added the Pope.
Therefore, the Holy Father explained that “mercy and justice are not alternatives, but walk together, marching in balance towards the same end, because mercy is not the suspension of justice, but its fulfillment (cf. Rom 13, 8-10)”.
“Dear Magistrates, the path of justice makes possible a fraternity in which everyone is protected, especially the weakest. I wish everyone to always work to keep this awareness alive and the tension towards the truth”, the Pope concluded.