FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 95 - ENGLISH

80 CULTURE A Good Samaritan? Forgiving the Unforgivable? The Return of Terror In the mid-1990s, Spain witnessed the public visibility of victims of terrorism, who acquired significant social promi- nence. In this context, Basque-Navarrese so- ciety as a whole was harshly questioned, as was, specifically, the Catholic Church rooted in its territories. A lack of empa- thy, affection, and closeness toward the victims was highlighted, and the silence of the ecclesiastical institution was de- nounced. In this regard, what was the Church's attitude toward victims of te- rrorism? Did it abandon them to their fate? Did it approach them only when they acquired social relevance? Or did it perhaps act effectively but discreetly on their behalf, with that attitude not pu- blicly known? This book seeks to answer these questions, aware of the great com- plexity of the ecclesial subject, which means that criticism and controversy are also reproduced within the Christian community. The year 2000 marked the end of ETA's ceasefire, with the terrorist group's re- sumption of violence and the return of the "socialization of suffering." This return to terror spread to the entire citizenry through kale borroka and placed political representatives, judges, journa- lists, and other social leaders in the cross- hairs. Although far from the number of victims of the "years of lead," that violence had a profound impact on a society now highly sensitive and combative toward terrorism. At the same time, with the Es- tella Agreement, a new strategy for accu- mulating nationalist forces was operating. The result was intense social fracture, fueled by opposing political strategies and the instrumentalization of fear, which tes- ted the solidity of democratic institutions and civic coexistence. Drawing on testi- monies, analysis, reflections, and memo- ries of historians, journalists, magistra- tes, pacifists, and politicians active at the time, the book reconstructs the political and social context of those years, focusing on the decisions of the actors involved and their consequences. This collective book helps explain why the year 2000 represented both the last attempt at violent imposition and the beginning of the definitive decline of the terrorist organization ETA. In recent times, forgiveness has gained increasing presence in the public sphere, becoming an important element of our moral and political culture. Since the mid-20th century, the con- texts in which forgiveness is invoked have multiplied (truth commissions, restorative encounters, institutional statements, symbolic gestures, and so on). Forgiveness has ceased to be sole- ly a private act between individuals and has become a public, political, legal, and symbolic formula for addressing wounds from the past, promoting recognition of the unjust suffering inflicted on victims, or opening paths toward coexistence in societies marked by violence. Various beliefs or ideas circulate in Bas- que society that simplify the complexity of forgiveness and hinder its possible contributions to processes of recogni- tion and reparation for victims and to the reconstruction of coexistence. In this book, we seek to critically question some of them. Authors: Galo Bilbao and Izaskun Sáez de la Fuente Publisher: Los Libros de la Catarata Year: 2026 Authors: Idoia Quintana Domínguez and Ángela Bermudez Velez Publisher: Los Libros de la Catarata Year: 2026 Coordinators: Antonio Rivera and Eduardo Mateo Publisher: Los Libros de la Catarata Year: 2026 The Basque Church and Victims of Terrorism Lights and Shadows in the Basque Conflict PUBLICATIONS