Fraternal correction

Fraternal correction (correctio fraterna) is a Christian social practice in which a private individual confronts a peer directly, ordinarily privately, about a perceived offence or wrongdoing. This is opposed to an official discipline meted by a superior to a subordinate.

Fraternal correction is mentioned in Mt 18,15–18.

In Roman Catholic ethics, fraternal correction is an expression of charity, since the corrector seeks to prevent the corrected from committing further sin. There are conditions for its application. The one corrected should be in a serious distress and there must be a reasonable hope that the corrected will be able to understand the correction and implement it. A 2004 report on the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church in the latter half of the 20th century showed that in recent times, bishops had been reluctant to use fraternal correction in their own ranks. Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke argued in 2018 that it was incumbent upon cardinals to apply fraternal correction, all necessary conditions for its application being fulfilled, even to a pope.

• Dubia

• Catholic Encyclopedia "Fraternal correction"
• Lavinsky, David W. (1 June 2011). "11.06.02, Craun, Ethics and Power in Medieval English Reformist Writing". The Medieval Review. ISSN 1096-746X. Retrieved 20 October 2015.