Social Reconciliation Project

Background

In early 2019, The Hong Kong government intended to amend the Extradition Bill. The plan and actions of the government have aroused broad attention in Hong Kong society. A series of demonstrations and rallies have broken out to oppose the amendment to the Extradition Bill since June 2019. The clashes between the police and the demonstrators during conflicts have torn society apart unprecedentedly. The irreversible damages in government-civic relationships will definitely hinder social and economic development in the coming future. Restoration of the relationship or reconciliation has become a difficult and indispensable mission at the moment.

Literature Review

Scholars who study political reconciliation have different approaches to reconciliation. Communitarians believe that a true reconciliation must involve the apology of the offender and forgiveness of the victims. They argue that an apology is the only way to make the offender feel guilty and take responsibility for their transgressions. At the same time, forgiveness is the only way to remove hatred and negative emotions from the victims toward offenders. They believe that reconciliation with apology and forgiveness can heal the wounded social relationship and cease the never-ending conflicts.

On the other hand, scholars who support Agonism believe that oppositions in the political realm are inevitable. Unlike Communitarians, they argue that a democratic system maintaining the diversity of voices fairly is the only way to benefit social development. They criticize Communitarians for preaching forgiveness in reconciliation blindly will lead to the removal of voices in society. For Agonists, forgiveness is not the condition for reconciliation.

Other scholars (i.e., Colleen Murphy and Ernesto Verdeja) proposed some practical ways in order to carry out social reconciliation based on Agonism. They claimed that to ensure the diversity of voices in society and to maintain civic engagement in policy-making, the government or state should revisit its structural completeness and the transparency of the rule of law. They also argue that society should grant symbolic and material recognition to victims in conflicts, such as building monuments for mourning the dead or providing social, political, and material resources for the victims in the conflict. These kinds of reconciliation are based on respect for society and the rule of law.

Objectives

The abovementioned discussions and arguments show that reconciliation, forgiveness, and justice are three inseparable concepts. The Catholic Ethical Tradition has covered this study and debate since biblical times. The perspective from the Catholic tradition would shed light on the debate of reconciliation. The Centre for Catholic Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong started a research project in 2019 to investigate the conceptual relationship between “Reconciliation,” “Forgiveness,” and “Justice” from the perspective of the Catholic tradition. At the same time, we also want to examine the possibility of carrying out a reconciliation project in Hong Kong.

Plan

This research project can be divided into three stages, the first stage is to lay down the theoretical framework for the study of the conceptual relationship between “Reconciliation,” “Forgiveness,” and “Justice” from the Catholic tradition.

The second stage is to investigate worldwide cases and examples of reconciliation projects to examine their reasons for success and failure. 

The final stage is, integrating the result gained from the first and second stage, to design a reconciliation education program for secondary school students, followed by a teachers formation and a pilot run in certain schools.

The third stage is suspended due to the pandemic’s impact on the schools.

Slide image: The sculpture “Reconciliation” by Vasconcellos, Coventry Cathedral. 

The first and second phases of this research project have been initially completed. In the first phase, our Centre held forums on July 18, 2020, and April 17, 2021, and a public lecture on January 2, 2021, respectively, and the presented papers were published in 2021. In the second phase, we hosted an international forum on 18 July 2021, inviting scholars and social activists from Ireland, Rwanda, Palestine, South Korea, and Sri Lanka to participate in sharing their local reconciliation experiences and reflections. Their presented papers will be published in both Chinese and English by the end of 2022.

You may watch the video of the forums again by the following link.

July 18, 2020
Forum on Justice, Reconciliation and Forgiveness (in Chinese)

January 2, 2021
Lecture on Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: From Social Trauma to Reconciliation (Cantonese)

April 17, 2021
Forum on Social Friendship as a Path to Peace

July 18, 2021
Forum on the Challenges of Reconciliation