ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the memory of wrongdoing as the central part of memory, personal, and collective identities, and the need for letting go of the memory of wrongdoing, of the old recollections, as a prerequisite for personal and collective catharsis and the development of a new culture of remembering. Resting on political theology, the promotion of subversive memory is urged, in particular the development of the ecumenism of compassion. Instead of the memory of wrongdoing, it seeks compassion. Instead of one-sided remembering of our own victims, it requires remembering and repentance for our own crimes and erecting admonishing monuments to the victims of others. Of special importance for the ecumenism of compassion is the ecumenical martyrology, the monuments of gratitude to the greats and martyrs of other nations and faiths, who, though considered traitors among their own people, were in fact the exemplars of humanity and the paragons of celebration of God.
