Do not despair, do not despond, but renew your soul by repentance, and tears, and Confession, and by doing good things. And never cease doing this. For Christians above all men are forbidden to correct the stumblings of sinners by force.
St John Chrysostom
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was deserving to blame.
For before certain persons came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and to separate himself, fearing the circumcised.
And the rest of the Jews dissembled along with him, so that Barnabas also was led away by them into that dissimulation.
But when I saw that they were not walking uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all: If thou, though a Jew, livest like the Gentiles, and not like the Jews, how is it that thou dost compel the Gentiles to live like the Jews?
Galatians 2:11-14
LOVE AND THE ROD
“Your rod and your staff – they comfort me”: the shepherd needs the rod as protection against savage beasts ready to pounce on the flock; against robbers looking for prey. Along with the rod there is the staff which gives support and helps to make difficult crossings. Both of these are likewise part of the Church’s ministry, of the priest’s ministry. The Church too must use the shepherd’s rod, the rod with which he protects the faith against those who falsify it, against currents which lead the flock astray. The use of the rod can actually be a service of love. Today we can see that it has nothing to do with love when conduct unworthy of the priestly life is tolerated. Nor does it have to do with love if heresy is allowed to spread and the faith twisted and chipped away, as if it were something that we ourselves had invented. As if it were no longer God’s gift, the precious pearl which we cannot let be taken from us. Even so, the rod must always become once again the shepherd’s staff – a staff which helps men and women to tread difficult paths and to follow the Lord.
--Benedict XVI, Homily, Closing of the Year for Priests, 11 June 2010
Fraternal Correction
"[P]riestly formation ... has to include courageous fraternal correction when it is called for. A priest, for his part, has to be ready to accept such correction. Christ said to his disciples: 'If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.' (Matt 18:15)"
(John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be One Our Way, p 129).
If you consider before God that you are under an obligation to bring to the notice of your superiors the shortcomings of a Sister, you must be careful to do so charitably, without any exaggeration (…) Neither exaggerate the evil nor excuse it but tell the truth as you would wish it to be told if you were the one who had committed the offence. [p. 91]
(St Vincent de Paul. From Jacques Delarue, The Holiness of Vincent de Paul, Geoffrey Chapman Ltd, London 1960, 132 pp)