Sorry...

I’m fascinated by the various kinds of apology, a subject addressed by an article in today’s Guardian. One kind of apology is delivered by a figurehead, to atone for historical mistakes (however strange it may seem to apoloise for the mistakes of others). For example, the Danish prime minister has just apologised in person to a group of Greenlandic Inuit who were removed from their families and taken to Copenhagen more than 70 years ago as part of an experiment to create a Danish-speaking elite.

Recent popes have apologised for the Catholic church’s many crimes against humanity. Pope John Paul II apologised, in 1992, for deeming Galileo to be a heretic in 1633 (the apology coming a mere 359 years too late). The Catholic church continues to apologise for the clerical abuse of children (having paid out billions to victims, and setting aside billions more to meet future claims). However, it’s not enough for the Catholic church to keep apologising - and seeking forgiveness - while doing little or nothing to address the systemic problems which made these apologies necessary in the first place. An apology which doesn’t result in a change of behaviour sounds rather hollow (and any apology which has to be ‘signed off’ by lawyers is worthless).

Politicians often “take full responsibility”, when things go badly wrong in their departments. It’s a specialised kind of apology, which requires nothing to change and no one to resign. “I take full responsibility” just means “Can we please change the subject”. The grudging non-apology is popular with online hate-mongers. “I apologise to anyone who may have been offended” shifts the blame from the perpetrator to the victim (who, by “taking offence” is deemed to be thin-skinned and overly sensitive). The rarest kind of apology, I'm sorry to say, is the truly heartfelt and sincerely contrite.  

Licenced yesterday: the Pipe & Glass Inn, a rather posh pub & restaurant in the village of South Dalton, East Yorkshire (in the news because it has retained its Michelin star)…