Support -- Sapport

 

This word is difficult to explain without being misunderstood in particular circumstances.  For example, the current Wiktionary entry for the verb includes the following definitions: to keep, to back, to help, to sustain etc.1  With all this, one might understand that when one person supports another, he would demonstrate solidarity, defend the other for whatever might have been done and intercede for him come what may.

 

So one might legitimately ask whether a person should provide support to another considered to have done something deplorable.

 

I say there is room for this, and unashamedly so, but before you reach out for your rotten tomatoes to hurl at me, just let me explain.

 

The context for all this you’d have probably guessed by now is the guilty verdict delivered by jury of a court in Victoria with respect to Cardinal George Pell who had been accused of sexual abuse of two choir boys at St Patricks Cathedral in Melbourne.

 

For those of you just disembarking on planet Earth after a visit to nearby Mars without access to the internet, these stories, and many similar ones, are now the witness to Christ we are receivin lately from the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in which we reaffirm our belief every Sunday.

 

Many have been shocked by the verdict, including myself whose sympathy for the Cardinal is nil.  There are those who do not accept the verdict, and others who have launched into condemnation.  I will do none of the above, except to remind that there is still the appeal be heard and adjudicated.

 

The point of this article is quite another though.  For example, the ex Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott declared on radio that Pell was still his friend, and had talked to him by phone on the day the guilty verdict became public.  He said he felt that Pell had long been his friend, and that he also felt for the victims of an institution that they were supposed to trust.2  For this display of support for Pell, Abbott was criticised by many, including his interviewer Ray Hadley.

 

Similar was the reply by the current Archbishop of Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, who declared that George Pell remains his friend and is ready to go visit him in jail.  He continued that nonetheless he would separate his personal friendship from the damage that has been done to individuals and communities by the Church.3

 

This to my mind is the main point – you can have a personal relationship with an offender, while condemning the bad act undertaken and acknowledge the damage undertaken.

 

Prisons in NSW and the world are full of offenders, both on remand and sentenced, who have family and friends that taintain contact with them by phone or letters, and many visit them in person at the jail, regularly or otherwise.  This does not necessarily mean they are happy with the criminal act that had occurred.

 

Naturally not everyone is ready to maintain a relationship with those on the wrong side of the law, and I’ve met several who have been completely abandoned by whoever might have been close.  I need to make clear that I don’t second guess those who take such a step, as I have no idea what circumstances they might have lived through – everybody has his or her own story to tell.

 

Nevertheless, maintained personal relationships, even with those in the deepest reaches of a gaol, far away from and reviled by everyone else, are essential for a sense of humanity to be maintained in a world that in the blink of an eye has turned to walls, slamming doors and the rigid routines dictated by security.

 

For those who are Christian, it is good to remember the invite by Jesus: “I was in prison and you visited me”.4

 

We also need to embrace those who have been abused, broken, betrayed, having justice denied for such a long time, not even believed after all.  For those that are still alive, those who avoided the vicious circle of drugs and suicide, we need to show compassion, a listening ear, provide them with structured help, and sympathy for their long and difficult quest for justice.

 

For them also, support.  For them also, Jesus invites us in the same verse from Matthew: “I was sick and you took care of me”.5

 

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Din hija kelma mislufa mill-Ingliż support, u hija daqsxejn diffiċli li tispjega xi tfisser mingħajr ma tinftiehem ħażin.  Per eżempju, id-dizzjunarju ta’ Aquilina jittraduċi support bħala rifed, felaħ, appoġġja, sostna, mantna, għen, kien favur u oħrajn.  B’dan kollu, wieħed jista’ jifhem li bniedem li jkun qed juri sapport lil ieħor, ikun solidali miegħu, jiddefendih għal kull m’għamel u jaqbeż għalih akkost ta’ kollox.

 

U allura, wieħed jista’ leġittimament jistaqsi jekk bniedem għandux juri sapport lil ieħor meqjus li għamel xi ħaġa deplorevoli.

 

Jien ngħid li hemm post għal dan, u b’wiċċek minn quddiem, imma qabel ma tmorru tfittxu t-tadam mnawwar biex tħaġġruni bih, ħalluni nispjega xi ftit.

 

Il-kuntest ta’ dan kollu probabbli ndunajtu li hija d-deċiżjoni ta’ ħati li għadha kif ingħatat minn ġuri ta’ qorti f’Victoria lill-Kardinal Kattoliku George Pell li kien akkużat b’abbuż sesswali ta’ żewġ subien, membri tal-kor, fil-Kattidral St Patricks f’Melbourne.

 

Għal min għadu kif irritorna fid-dinja wara mawra fuq il-pjaneta Mars mingħajr aċċess għall-internet, dawn l-istejjer, u ħafna oħrajn bħalhom, huma x-xhieda ta’ Kristu li qiegħdin nirċievu dan l-aħħar mill-Knisja Qaddisa Kattolika u Appostolika li nistqarru t-twemmin tagħna fiha kull nhar ta’ Ħadd.

 

Ħafna ġew ixxukkjati mill-verdett, inkluż jien li simpatija mal-Kardinal m’għandi xejn.  Hemm min il-verdett ma jaċċettahx u oħrajn li infexxew jikkundannawh.  Jien ma se nagħmel xejn minn dan, ħlief li nfakkar li għad baqa’ l-appell x’jinstema u jinqata’.

 

Is-suġġett huwa ieħor madankollu.  Per eżempju, l-eks Prim Ministru Awstraljan Tony Abbott stqarr fuq ir-radju li Pell kien u għadu ħabib tiegħu, u kien kellmu bit-telefon dakinhar li l-verdett ta’ ħati sar pubbliku.  Qal li kien iħoss għal Pell li kien ilu ħabib tiegħu għal ħafna żmien, u kien iħoss ukoll għall-vittmi ta’ istituzzjoni li suppost setgħu jafdaw.1  Għal din il-wirja ta’ sapport għal Pell, Abbott kien ikkritikat minn ħafna, inkluż mill-intervistatur tiegħu, Ray Hadley.

 

Simili kienet it-tweġiba tal-Arċisqof ta’ Melbourne, Peter Comensoli, li stqarr li George Pell jibqa’ ħabib tiegħu u lest li jmur jinvistah il-ħabs.  Kompla madankollu li jifred din il-ħbiberija personali mill-atti ta’ ħsara li twettqu kontra individwi u komunitajiet mill-Knisja.2

 

Dan jidhirli jien li hu l-punt prinċipali – li jista’ jkollok relazzjoni personali ma’ offensur, filwaqt li tikkundanna l-att ħażin u tagħraf il-ħsara li jkun twettaq.

 

Il-ħabsijiet ta’ NSW u tad-dinja mimlija b’offensuri, kemm akkużati u kemm sentenzjati, li għandhom familjari u ħbieb tagħhom li jżommu kuntatt magħhom bit-telefon jew bl-ittri, u ħafna minnhom iżuruhom, regolarment jew le, fiżikament fil-ħabs. Dan ma jfissirx neċessarjament li huma kuntenti bl-att kriminali li jkun twettaq.  

 

 

Naturalment mhux kulħadd ikun lest iżomm relazzjoni ma’ min ikun xellef difrejh mal-ġustizzja, u jien naf diversi li ġew abbandunati kompletament minn kull min kien qrib tiegħu.  Irrid nagħmilha ċara li jien ma nlumx ‘il min jagħmel dan il-pass, għax ma nafx minn xiex ikun għadda – kulħadd għandu l-istorja tiegħu.

 

Madankollu, relazzjonijiet personali miżmuma, anke meta wieħed jinsab f’qiegħ ta’ ħabs, ‘il bogħod u mistmerr minn kulħadd, huwa essenzjali biex jinżamm xi sens ta’ umanità f’dinja li f’ħakka t’għajn saret biss ħitan, bibien tal-ħadid jissabbtu u rutini riġidi tas-sigurtà.

 

Għal min huwa Nisrani, tajjeb li niftakru l-istedina ta’ Ġesù: “kont fil-ħabs u ġejtu żżuruni”.3

 

U irridu wkoll ngħożżu ‘l dawk li ġew abbużati, nies miksura, ittraduti, ħafna drabi mċaħħda mill-ġustizzja, lanqas biss emmnuti wara kollox.  Għal dawk li għadhom ħajjin, dawk li rnexxielhom jevitaw waqgħa fiċ-ċirku vizzjuż tad-droga jew is-suwiċidju, irridu nuru mogħdrija, widna li tisma’,appoġġ għal strutturi ta’ għajnuna għalihom u simpatija għat-triq twila u diffiċli biex ikollhom ġustizzja.

 

Għalihom ukoll, sapport.  Għalihom ukoll, l-istedina ta’ Ġesu fl-istess vers tal-vanġelu ta’ Mattew: “kont marid u ġejtu tarawni”.4

 

 

 

1https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/support, retrieved 14/3/2019

2https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tony-abbott-doesn-t-recall-if-george-pell-asked-for-a-character-reference-20190304-p511k7.html, retrieved 5/3/2019

3https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/archbishop-of-melbourne-says-george-pell-remains-a-friend-apologises-to-abuse-victims-20190227-p510hu.html, retrieved 6/3/2019

4Mt 25:36

5Ibid.

1https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/tony-abbott-doesn-t-recall-if-george-pell-asked-for-a-character-reference-20190304-p511k7.html, retrieved 5/3/2019

2https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/archbishop-of-melbourne-says-george-pell-remains-a-friend-apologises-to-abuse-victims-20190227-p510hu.html, retrieved 6/3/2019

3Mt 25:36

4Ibid.