“In principle, the act of pardon is always granted in an unconditional and gratuitous manner; it is and remains a gift”, declared the Bishop of Trier, Reinhard Marx, interviewed by the daily Saarbrücker Zeitung on 19 February, with regard to rumours about the possibility of the President of the Federal Republic Horst Köhler granting a pardon to some former terrorists of the RAF. Bishop Marx emphasised that “we need to distinguish between an act of pardon and early release. Also in the case of an act of pardon”, however, the bishop is of the view that it must be based on the premise “that the applicant no longer defends but repudiates his/her own actions”. The bishop said he was contrary to the hypothesis that the families of the victims of terrorists could or should pronounce pro or contra an act of pardon: “It would be an excessive claim at the expense of the victims. Their painful involvement is not a good presupposition for a fair sentence. The necessary detachment is needed and I cannot imagine that anyone can have it after so terrible an experience”. Bishop Marx recalled that Jesus Christ detested evil. But even the worst person, he taught, still has a chance, so long as he is sincere in his repentance, in his repudiation of his own sins”. “Christ reacted with some vehemence when the righteous boasted too much of their own rectitude and when they acted without compassion. Mercy, one of the key words in the vocabulary of Jesus Christ, does not calculate but presupposes a willingness to begin life afresh”.
