Originally published at Southern Cross
SAN DIEGO — “Restorative justice is really about biblical justice.”
That’s how Dr. Robert Ehnow, director of the diocesan Office for Life, Peace and Justice, explains a concept that some people struggle to define.
As an example of what it looks like in practice, he points to the familiar Gospel account of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11).
Instead of endorsing the most punitive response to the woman’s sin –– execution by stoning –– Jesus opts not to “condemn” her, but to spare her life, and exhorts her to “not sin anymore.”
“Jesus’ justice was about holding people accountable and being merciful and compassionate as much as possible within that realm of accountability,” Ehnow said.
He said that restorative justice is “what justice was intended to be, when God perfected it through mercy.”
Restorative justice has been embraced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who endorsed it 24 years ago in a document titled “Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice.”
November is observed annually as National Restorative Justice Month, while the third week of that month is designated as International Restorative Justice Week.
Ehnow contrasted restorative justice with the approach to criminal justice dominant
