The terrible byproduct of living the life of a war correspondent is that one witnesses extreme realities\u2014the 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>\n\n\n\n
P.J. ARMENGOU<\/strong> 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>\n\n\n\n P.J. ARMENGOU<\/strong> From first hearing Alice's story, Armengou set out to document these \u201cFaces of Forgiveness,\u201d 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\u2014or even reconciliation necessarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n P.J. ARMENGOU<\/strong> This kind of radical forgiveness can seem almost superhuman. Yet it is something an ordinary mother like Diane Foley\u2014whose son was killed by ISIS\u2014seeks to live out every day, despite facing injustice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n P.J. ARMENGOU<\/strong> The protagonists of these stories are not perfect, but they share one common trait: a spiritual dimension that enables them to work toward forgiveness\u2014especially through their Christian faith, which calls for forgiving \u201cseventy times seven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n These powerful stories nonetheless leave readers with a difficult question, the answer unknowable in theory:<\/p>\n\n\n\n P.J. ARMENGOU<\/strong> Sulaiman, Alice, Emmanuel, George, Diane, and Thabang are the \u201cFaces of Forgiveness\u201d in Armengou's book. And through forgiveness, against the odds, they have rebuilt their lives despite great suffering and pain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From first hearing Alice's story, Armengou set out to document these \u201cFaces of Forgiveness,\u201d showing that beyond violence, there is always the opportunity to start over if both victim and perpetrator are given a second chance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":758,"featured_media":91414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/v_x0yEfngk4","video_descarga":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/blibroperdonoaemengoueng.mp4","international_url":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/blibroperdonoaemengouint.mp4","type":"rrp","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91413"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91413"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91413\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91474,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91413\/revisions\/91474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Journalist and author of \u201cFaces of Forgiveness\u201d<\/strong>
The focus on forgiveness is something I\u2019ve 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\u2019ve been struck by suddenly finding stories of light, reconciliation, and breaking the cycle of violence.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I interviewed her just a few centimeters away from the man who did all this to her\u2014the 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe the most complete form of forgiveness\u2014the one that leads to the most genuine peace\u2014is the kind that acknowledges what has been lived through, whether it\u2019s harm done to another or harm done to oneself. It embraces that pain and says: from it, I will take something good.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
She goes through a long process of overcoming hatred, violence, and pain\u2014of 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each of these stories is a mirror that asks us: would you be able to forgive? Such immense harm\u2014having your children killed, being robbed, being raped, losing everything in a war.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n