Irish Examiner View: Capacity to forgive in us all

Charles Inness, former British Army soldier, with Richard Moore, holding the rubber bullet that blinded him in 1972. File picture: Derek Speirs

It was William Shakespeare who put it best when he described the quality of mercy as "twice blest". 

Forgiveness is a prime component of mercy and the blessings bestowed by it have been witnessed in New Zealand in recent days during the trial of a white supremist for the murder of Muslims at prayer in March 2019.

They have also been seen closer to home. Richard Moore, from Derry, was blinded at the age of 10 in 1972 after being struck by a rubber bullet fired by Charles Inness, then a British army captain sent to Northern Ireland during the height of the Troubles. 

It took Inness over 30 years to apologise but only a mere split second for Moore to accept that apology and forgive him.

The victim impact statements of those New Zealanders who were injured, and those who lost loved ones, in the Christchurch massacre are testaments to the healing power of forgiveness. 

A mother who lost her son in the mosque massacres publicly forgave the white supremacist killer, leaving him visibly shaken during a courtroom encounter. Janna Ezat, who survived the shootings, told Brenton Tarrant that she had no hatred for him despite her grief.

That capacity to forgive should inspire us all to do likewise because, in the words of the late, great humanitarian Mahatma Gandhi, “the weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”.