Pope Francis: ‘The supreme rule regarding fraternal correction is love’

Pope Francis said on Wednesday that fraternal correction must always be guided by love.

Speaking at the general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Nov. 3, the pope reflected on the Apostle Paul’s advice to the early Christians to correct others “in a spirit of gentleness.”

“The supreme rule regarding fraternal correction is love: to want the good of our brothers and sisters,” the pope said.

The Catholic Encyclopedia defines fraternal correction as “the admonishing of one’s neighbor by a private individual with the purpose of reforming him or, if possible, preventing his sinful indulgence.”

The pope reflected on the practice in his live-streamed address, the 14th in his cycle of catechesis on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians.
At the beginning of the audience, priests read out Galatians 5:16-17, 25 in various languages, a passage in which the Apostle urges the community in Galatia, a region in modern-day Turkey, to “walk according to the Spirit.”

“In fact, it is exciting, but demanding, to build up the community according to the way indicated by the Apostle,” the pope commented.

“The ‘desires of the flesh,’ ‘the temptations,’ we can say, that all of us have — that is, our jealousies, prejudices, hypocrisies and resentments continue to make themselves felt — and having recourse to a rigid set of precepts can be an easy temptation.”

“But doing this means straying from the path of freedom, and instead of climbing to the top, it means returning down below. In the first place, journeying along the way of the Spirit requires giving space to grace and charity.”

The pope noted that in Galatians 6:1-2, St. Paul urged Christians to bear each other’s burdens and, when a community member fell, to restore them with gentleness.

“Quite different than gossiping, like when we see something and we talk behind the person’s back about it, right?” he said.

“To gossip about our neighbor. No, this is not according to the Spirit. What is according to the Spirit is being gentle with a brother or sister when correcting him or her and keeping watch over ourselves so as not to fall into those sins, that is, humility.”