Reconciliation may be seen as part of a process of restoring a relationship gone awry, typically as the result of one party causing a rift.

Reconciliation is a Roman Catholic sacrament; see confession for more details.

Yom Kippur is a Jewish holiday, considered by Jews to be the holiest and most solemn day of the year; its central theme is atonement and reconciliation.

After an exhibit at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site of lynching photographs in 2001 and a year long visit by the co-chair of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission at Emory University, Desmond Tutu, a group called Southern Truth and Reconciliation was formed by individuals in Atlanta, GA, to assist local communities in the South where racial violence had made racial separation a fact of daily life. S.T.A.R. is part of a large and growing movement in the USA and the world to help those affected by racial violence make the transition from separation to full involvement in their culture. As of 2004, reconciliation groups are springing up across the USA. See for example, one of the more mature groups at www.birminghampledge.com.

Reconciliation was an attempt by Australia's Labour governments, from the 1980s to mid-1990s, to bring about improved relations between the country's Aboriginal people and the rest of the population. It was an attempt to recognise and apologize for the pain, suffering, humiliation and genocide that they have suffered since colonization by Britain. Aboriginal people were not recognized as citizens or allowed to vote or own property unit the late 1960s. Attempts at reconciliation have been largely abandoned by Australia's current conservative Prime Minister, John Howard, who has been repeatedly condemned by the United Nations over human rights violations. Howard - a supporter of the British monarch who remains head of state of Australia - has just been re-elected for his fourth term.

External links

• http://www.reconcile.org/ -- Christian website
• Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation -- South African NGO
• http://www.southerntruth.org -- Atlanta, GA based racial reconciliation advisory and consulting group; non-profit