Banalization of Evil ... Delusion of Guiltlessness

On Good Friday of 2005, shortly before John Paul II's death, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger took John Paul's place as the celebrant of the traditional Stations of the Cross at the Roman Coliseum. The cardinal's reflections were truly magnificent, including this: "Before the face of the suffering Lord, the banalization of evil comes to an end." To which Jan-Heiner Tuck added in the current edition of Communio: "And with it the widespread delusion of guiltlessness. The questionable act of 'not having been the one,' which always ends up framing someone else, comes to a halt."