Pardon me but I hope McVeigh was fried to a crisp for taking all those innocent lives. I do not believe any one man from any faith can forgive him for what he did to those innocent people including young children and babies.
Too bad Timmy could only be executed once.
Neither does the Catholic church. Forgivness is from God.
He said, "Only God can be your judge." He just led him to repentence. Repentence does not mean you are not guilty, just sorry.
You need to re-read the article, beginning with the headline. We should always hope for everyon's salvation, and never desire that a soul be lost.
What Timothy McVeigh did was the most extreme offense against God, and it is true that no mere man can forgive what has offended God Himself.
But Jesus is the man who is God, the God who is man; and where there is repentance and a broken, contrite heart, He can forgive.
You (and I) have no idea how much greater God is than anything we can conceive. I truly hope that McVeigh truly repented, even if it means he has to be in Purgatory until the end of the world. I will pray for him.
I think the priest put it very well. He told McVeigh that forgiveness comes only through true repentence with God, and that he was not McVeigh's judge, the implication being that God alone was.
Don't forget also that the Catholic Church maintains the belief in purgatory. McVeigh can ultimately have been saved, although his quote from Invictus seems like he was not; nonetheless, he will suffer for his crimes. God forgives the eternal soul; just as his forgiveness does not resurrect in this world the dead, nor does it spare McVeigh purgatory.