The terrible byproduct of living the life of a war correspondent is that one witnesses extreme realities—the peak of violence, suffering, and pain. This is what P.J. Armengou experiences while working in high-conflict zones, and it's what shaped his latest work.
P.J. ARMENGOU
Journalist and author of “Faces of Forgiveness”
The focus on forgiveness is something I’ve encountered throughout my career as a journalist in conflict zones, witnessing a great deal of pain and violence around me, in the world at large. And I’ve been struck by suddenly finding stories of light, reconciliation, and breaking the cycle of violence.
The 1994 Rwandan genocide marked the beginning of Armengou's career. Extremists from the Hutu ethnic group there began exterminating the Tutsi, their rival ethnic group. Alice, a Tutsi woman, for example, was mutilated and her children were killed by the Hutus.
P.J. ARMENGOU
And I interviewed her just a few centimeters away from the man who did all this to her—the man who took part in killing her children and mutilating her. That story of forgiveness, the forgiveness she granted him, captivated me, obsessed me, and broke me.
From first hearing Alice's story, Armengou set out to document these “Faces of Forgiveness,” showing that beyond violence, there is always the opportunity to start over if both victim and perpetrator are given a second chance. A forgiveness that does not mean forgetting—or even reconciliation necessarily.
P.J. ARMENGOU
I believe the most complete form of forgiveness—the one that leads to the most genuine peace—is the kind that acknowledges what has been lived through, whether it’s harm done to another or harm done to oneself. It embraces that pain and says: from it, I will take something good.
This kind of radical forgiveness can seem almost superhuman. Yet it is something an ordinary mother like Diane Foley—whose son was killed by ISIS—seeks to live out every day, despite facing injustice.
P.J. ARMENGOU
She goes through a long process of overcoming hatred, violence, and pain—of embracing the person and forgiving them. And yet, at the same time, she is still working to forgive Alexanda Kotey, as well as the U.S. government for not doing enough to save her son.
The protagonists of these stories are not perfect, but they share one common trait: a spiritual dimension that enables them to work toward forgiveness—especially through their Christian faith, which calls for forgiving “seventy times seven.”
These powerful stories nonetheless leave readers with a difficult question, the answer unknowable in theory:
P.J. ARMENGOU
Each of these stories is a mirror that asks us: would you be able to forgive? Such immense harm—having your children killed, being robbed, being raped, losing everything in a war.
Sulaiman, Alice, Emmanuel, George, Diane, and Thabang are the “Faces of Forgiveness” in Armengou's book. And through forgiveness, against the odds, they have rebuilt their lives despite great suffering and pain.
