The tactic of "naming and shaming" certain convicted persons, employed by some sections of the British media, was criticised by the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin, Dr Martin Drennan, yesterday.
He said that the practice "has had frightening consequences" and maintained that even those who had committed the most appalling crimes needed "understanding, skilled help and forgiveness".
At a Mass in St Michan's Church, Church Street, Dublin, to mark the opening of the law term, Dr Drennan referred to the attitude of Christ to a woman accused of adultery. He said that Christ's way was to seek to direct the woman into a better mode of living.
While taking sin and crime seriously, Christ had sought to bring about reconciliation, he said.
"His attitude to the defendant raises some questions for our society, which at times wonders whether forgiveness is too generous a response," Dr Drennan continued.
"As in his time, there is a temptation to look for scapegoats, to rush to the higher moral ground and take up stones to throw. In a neighbouring jurisdiction, the tactic of naming and shaming has had frightening consequences.
"We do something drastic to ourselves if we disown those who have failed, those who have committed crime, even the most appalling crimes.
"Wounded people can do shameful things. Some of them are so scarred that they have very little insight into the damage they have done and consequently are capable of very little change. They need understanding, skilled help and forgiveness."
Bishop Drennan said that credit was due to the many in the legal profession who showed sensitivity towards broken people. Jean Vanier's words - "If you want to measure the quality of your living, ask yourself what is your attitude to the weak of this world" - were worth remembering, he added. Fairness and compassion brought their own reward.
In his address at the service in St Michan's, the Rev Frank Sellar, Minister of Adelaide Road Presbyterian Church in Dublin, said that this life was "the one and only opportunity to do good to our disadvantaged fellow human beings".
"Do you suppose the rich man ever saw Lazarus at his gate? It is questionable if he did, or at least if he did, he didn't do a single thing to relieve his suffering or alter his pain," the Rev Sellar said. "Isn't that appalling? And yet, is it so different from our society today?
"As the rich become richer, people lose touch with, and forget, what life is actually like for the disadvantaged, the marginalised and the `have-nots' of our society. And that is an affront to God, for Jesus reminds us that how we treat the poor is actually a touchstone of our spiritual condition.
"Remember, it is the powerful, not the poor, which are commanding the attention of the tribunals at this time in our nation's history."
The Rev Sellar asked the congregation to ask themselves: "What is my life for? What are we doing with this one life that we have been given and which passes so quickly? Jesus's judgment here intends to bring us to a moment of crisis whereby we have time at the start of yet another term to reflect upon this most crucial of all questions that may determine the very future direction of our lives . . ."
"By the grace of God we may see this as a window of opportunity, a God-given moment to reflect upon our purpose in life and to re-examine priorities that will shape our futures and determine our eternal destinies."
