Fraternal correction (correctio fraterna) is a Christian social practice in which a private individual confronts a peer directly, ordinarily privately, about a perceived offence or wrongdoing.
This is opposed to an official discipline meted by a superior to a subordinate.
In Roman Catholic ethics, fraternal correction is an expression of charity, since the corrector seeks to prevent the corrected from committing further sin.
[1] A 2004 report on the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church in the latter half of the 20th century showed that in recent times, bishops had been reluctant to use fraternal correction in their own ranks.
[2] Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke argued in 2018 that it was incumbent upon cardinals to apply fraternal correction, all necessary conditions for its application being fulfilled, even to a pope.