“While on the one hand we must avoid the error of insisting that no blame can be imputed to malefactors who are socially and culturally deprived, on the other, we must recognise the ‘vulnerability’ of many people in our society. Mercy is one of God’s attributes; it must also characterise the people who administer justice”. This appeal was launched recently by the archbishop of Glasgow, Msg. Mario Conti, to lawyers and judges gathered in St. Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh for the annual “Red Mass”, dedicated to those who work in the law. The archbishop went on, “in the course of my ministry as archbishop of Glasgow I have become aware of the suffocating grip that antisocial behaviour has in many communities of my own archdiocese”, where many faithful “do not participate in evening services for fear of leaving their homes after dark”. Hence the need for everyone’s commitment in “helping to build a less violent, more just and humane society”; a place in which “those who interpret and apply the law” have an important role, which is “a prerequisite for the creation and maintenance of civil co-existence”.
