Interfaith TV special to air on WABI-TV 5

BANGOR – An interfaith special “Choosing to Forgive” will be aired at 11 a.m. Sunday on WABI-TV 5.

The 30-minute documentary presents the idea of forgiveness from a religious and scientific point of view.

One of the tenets of most faiths is the forgiveness by believers of those who have wronged them. In recent years, psychologists have studied the concept as an effective means of getting past injustices.

The program was produced in cooperation with the Interfaith Broadcasting Commission, which includes the National Council of Churches, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a consortium of Jewish organizations and the Islamic Society of North America.

“Choosing to Forgive” includes interviews with people who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, a parent who has befriended his son’s killer, and a woman who was raped by her brother.

The program also includes a visit to St. James Catholic School in Madison, Wis., to show how first-graders learn the basic steps in forgiveness.