At heart, forgiveness is never withheld (5)
I believe the answer is:
given
'never withheld' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with ownership as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'at heart forgiveness is' is the wordplay.
'at heart' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue (letters hidden in the heart of the clue).
'GIVEN' is hidden within 'forgiveness is'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for given that I've seen before include "Specified - granted" , "Taken as read" , "Specified, stated" , "Accepted as true" , "supplied" .)