Jesus forgave the REPENTANT thief next to Him on the Cross!!!!
We Orthodox remember that thief every time we prepare for Holy Communion: “Remember me, when You come into Your Kingdom.” “Today you will be with Me in Paradise”.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2023:40-43
...Jesus forgave the REPENTANT thief next to Him on the Cross!...
Yes. However, we as humans are free to forgive anyone for wrongs done to us by them without the wrongdoer asking for it.
Paradise was a waiting place for the people who died in Old Testament times.
Even Christ didn’t go to heaven at the moment he died. He descended to those waiting in Paradise to tell that that heaven would soon be opened.