Fraternal correction

Fraternal correction (correctio fraterna) is a Christian social practice in which a private individual confronts a peer directly, ordinarily privately, about a perceived offence or wrongdoing. This is opposed to an official discipline meted by a superior to a subordinate.

Fraternal correction is mentioned in Mt 18,15–18.

In Roman Catholic ethics, fraternal correction is an expression of charity, since the corrector seeks to prevent the corrected from committing further sin. There are conditions for its application. The one corrected should be in a serious distress and there must be a reasonable hope that the corrected will be able to understand the correction and implement it. Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke argued in 2018 that it was incumbent upon cardinals to apply fraternal correction, all necessary conditions for its application being fulfilled, even to a pope.

History

Theological Interpretation of Fraternal Correction

The first recorded writings on the concept of fraternal correction were authored by Augustine around 400 CE in The Rule of Saint Augustine. Ideas on fraternal correction from this writing originally were detailed to the scope of how a man is responsible for keeping their peers who set their gaze on a woman in a lustful manner accountable. Augustine details how the intent of fraternal correction is so that a sinner's problems do not get more severe, as pointing out a brother's sin is meant to get them to turn from a sinful behavior. Augustine also argues that one should be brought to a formal punishment after fraternal correction has been attempted and failed.

Thomas Aquinas further developed the idea of fraternal correction and how it should be enacted in Summa Theologica, ending in 1247 CE, specifically under Question 33. Fraternal correction, according to Aquinas, serves mainly as an act of charity. The intentions of someone giving fraternal correction are important, as fraternal correction is only deemed by Aquinas to be a holy act if it is out of worry for a sinner, and it should be done humbly and respectfully. He therefore claims fraternal correction should not be practiced with the intentions of being degrading or hateful to the sinner. Additionally, the writings argue how noticing someone in sin and doing nothing about it puts the observer in a state of sin themself. Furthermore, in detailing how all Christians should practice fraternal correction, Aquinas states that not only is it okay for a superior to fraternally correct an inferior, but also that it is the duty of an inferior to correct their superior. In determining which sins should be addressed in this manner of fraternal correction, Aquinas makes a distinction between public and secret offenses. He claims that if an offense is made against the public that it ought to be handled in the public to prevent scandal, whereas a more private sin should be handled privately. In cases where a sinner does not repent in private addressing of sin, then it is right to denounce them more publicly.

William of Ockham, in the 1320s and 30s, continued logical discourse on fraternal correction in the idea of legitimate correction versus illegitimate correction. The legitimacy of correction of sin was dependent on the person who was correcting someone else having correct information. There are several criteria that correction, therefore must fulfill in order to be legitimate. First, the person correcting someone else must know the truth in their information about the corrected's actions. Secondly, it must be plainly presented to the corrected that their actions are truly wrongdoing in the eyes of God, as it undermines the purpose of correction if someone is being corrected for an action that is not wrong in the word of God.

Fraternal Correction in Canon Law

The concept of fraternal correction is engrained in the Canon Law Codes of the Roman Catholic Church. In Can. 1341, it is detailed that an Ordinary is to attempt to handle someone's wrongdoing with methods of care including fraternal correction before they attempt to seek justice by other means, unless the wrongdoing is severe enough that fraternal correction would have no ability to prevent scandal or bring justice in the given situation. In 1917, the first formal codification of Canon Law took place under Pope Benedict XV, followed later by a revised codification of Canon Law in 1983 under Pope John Paul II; fraternal correction has been an official doctrine in Canon Law since this time.

Controversy Relating to Fraternal Correction

Emerging in 2002 and continuing to get larger throughout the 2000s and 2010s, sexual abuse by clergy members, and the cover ups of these cases, throughout the Catholic Church became an issue that was discovered to have spanned a much longer time ago, dating as far back as 50 years before. Because of the nature of ideology of fraternal correction, that is that it's supposed to be done in private, many pointed to it as the reason for the abuse being covered up by the Church. Some experts such as Carolyn Warner, who has studied the Catholic church and is a professor at Arizona State University, believe that the system of fraternal correction allows priests and bishops who are made aware of abuse to keep it a secret instead of bringing it to the proper authorities. Others such as Nicholas Cafardi, a lawyer specializing in Canon Law, contend that the custom of fraternal correction in Can. 1341 was not the problem, as when a sin presents scandal for a community then it is supposed to be brought to light. The issue of the role of Can. 1341 and fraternal correction's role in the abuse scandals is believed to be more complex by others, as one study points to not only the culture of fraternal correction and secrecy along with psychological factors around this phenomena. The secrecy in fraternal correction, the study claims, creates a culture where in the church priests are viewed as othered or apart from society at large. This, according to the study, was a reason that priests and bishops who were confronted with knowledge of these abuse issues stayed quiet and tried to address them appealing to the authorities. Others would not point to fraternal correction as the issue, as a 2004 report on the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church in the latter half of the 20th century showed that in recent times, bishops had been reluctant to use fraternal correction in their own ranks. A Vatican meeting in February 2019 was left trying to address the question of why fraternal correction was not applied more and correctly, as they contend that part of fraternal correction is not keeping a sin private if it hinders justice for the victim.

See also

• Dubia

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia "Fraternal correction"
• Lavinsky, David W. (1 June 2011). "11.06.02, Craun, Ethics and Power in Medieval English Reformist Writing". The Medieval Review. ISSN 1096-746X. Retrieved 20 October 2015.