A SECOND CHANCE

ONE of the unique privileges of the Church during the Middle Ages was its right to grant "sanctuary," a form of immunity from civil authority. In practice, any person fleeing from the wrath of the law could receive full protection for as long as he remained within the physical walls of the cathedral buildings. The drawback was, of course, that the outcast, unless taking the vows of the Church and becoming a Brother, was eventually forced to return to the world of his pursuers and face the punishment from which he had fled.