“Purificare la memoria significa eliminare dalla coscienza personale e collettiva tutte le forme di risentimento o di violenza che l'eredità del passato vi avesse lasciato (...).”22 This process of purification of memory is governed, in its formulation, by three principles, to wit: the “principle of conscience” (as “moral judgment and moral imperative”), the “principle of historicity”, and the “principle of paradigm change.” 23 Among the historical examples cited, we can find the Crusades (the “tragedia dell'uso delle armi per proteggere la fede”), the treatment of native peoples, and the Inquisition, in addition to individual cases, such as that of Giordano Bruno and Galileo.24 4. The African Continent (South Africa and Rwanda) 25. On the occasion of receiving the Report from the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the President of that country (Mr. Nelson Mandela), in his speech delivered in Pretoria on October 29, 1998, warned that: "It will be difficult for the victims of gross violations of human rights to accept the philosophical account of the trade-off between punitive justice and a peaceful transition. It may be difficult for many to accept the finding the Apartheid State was the primary perpetrator of gross human rights violations. Yet if we are true to our founding pact, we cannot equivocate about a system which exacted such inhumanity. There can be no dissonance with regard to the clarion call: never again!"25 26. Shortly after, in his assessment of the work of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, published in January, 1999, Mr. Desmond Tutu focused on the issue of repentance and the quest for forgiveness. He considered that: "Forgiveness and reconciliation are not the normal terms of political discourse. They are playing on home ground in the religious area. And so it was to be expected that we would bring our religious insights and perspectives to bear on the delicate business of healing a traumatized and deeply wounded people. (...) Forgiveness in an important way is making it possible for the wrongdoer to make a new beginning and not to be imprisoned in a paralyzing past. It opens a door to the possibility of a fresh start, which would not be feasible without that forgiveness. But the only way forgiveness can be appropriated is by the perpetrator confessing because he is penitent. Something similar is true for communities and people."26 27. Thereupon, Mr. Desmond Tutu referred to the tragedy of Rwanda: "I visited Rwanda soon after the genocide there. I said that if retributive justice was to be the last word in dealing with that awful happening, then Rwanda had had it, for her history has been one of reprisal followed by counter-reprisal, as first Tutsi and then Hutu took the opportunity for revenge, as each in turn toppled the previous top dogs. Their hope lay in something which went beyond retributive justice, . [Commissione Teologica Internazionale/Vaticano,] Memoria e Riconciliazione - La Chiesa e le Colpe del Passato: Il Papa Chiede Perdono - Purificare la Memoria, Roma, Ed. Piemme, 2000, p. 98. 22 . Ibid., pp. 98-99. . Cf. ibid., pp. 131-180. . South African Government, www.info.gov.za/index, Statement of 29 October 1998, p. 2. 23 24 25 . D. Tutu, "Seeking Reconciliation in South Africa", in Franciscan magazine, European Province of the Society of Saint Francis (January 1999 issue), reproduced at: www.franciscans.org.uk/1999jan-tutu, pp. 1 and 3. 26