I have had Christian friends who believed “Forgiveness” lacking repentance and contrition are meaningless. My Theology isn’t that advanced. Not my pay grade.
Sound like they are talking about God’s forgiveness of sin.
Translated to man it’s like saying, “I’ll forgive you if you say you’re sorry” which is conditional.
In Cary’s case the perp is mentally ill (if true) and doesn’t have the capacity to understand right from wrong. Cary’s forgiveness is his way of dealing with it and dismissing the pain and anger.
Christ paid the debt for all sin on the cross. This is not a "get out of jail free" card for people to do as they please. In order to benefit from Christ's sacrifice, one must embrace it and accept it, which entails repentence and contrition. In my mind, this does not mean that Christ's forgiveness is "conditional." He laid down his life and made it available to all. The only condition put on it is by the individual who chooses to accept or reject it.
A person forgiving another person is a somewhat different matter in my mind. The willingness to forgive another, regardless of their contrition, is good for the soul, and in our limited human capacity, perhaps as best as we may imitate Christ. Our ability to forgive is for the benefit of the aggrieved.
I find it significant that in the Lord's prayer, we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." In the words of Christ himself, our very desire to be forgiven and to offer forgiveness are on par with our daily bread. In other words, they are essential to our health and well being.