Milán, Italia
Among Synoptics, Matthew's Gospel seems to present richest juridically relevant details and finest sensitivity to social stigma. Drawing inspiration from some distinctive passages of this text, the paper focuses on the contrast between mercy and sacrifice, particularly referring to the penal sanction. Residual sacrificial traits of the current criminal system are explored to propitiate their definitive overcoming, in a perspective complementary to the wider potential of a "new" and creative justice, based on the mercy paradigm. Identified sacrifice-like features of criminal sanction includes: vicarious transfer and inaccuracy of responsibility attribution, contentious and evidentiary poverty of factfinding, indifference to the possibility of positive involvement of the subjects who bear punishment and cognitive disregard to relationships subsequent to the conviction. Being open to different outcomes, the model of mercy is evaluated, also without reference to its ethical dimension, in terms of greater empirical validity and functional rationality
1. «Andate dunque e imparate...». - 2, «Se aveste compreso...». - 3. «...e non mi avete visitato». - 4. Irrazionalita del sacrificio, razionalità della misericordia.