A cry for unity

Pope Leo has assumed the Petrine ministry as old ecclesial divisions have reared up anew and as heightened polarization has weakened the church’s unity and mission.

His actions have manifested a return to non-ideologized traditions — such as donning the papal red mozzetta for the announcement of his election and on numerous occasions since — which others had made polarized under Pope Francis’ tenure. But, more, his words have redoubled the impression that Leo’s exercise of the papacy is primed to foster unity.

Speaking at his first appearance as pope, Leo began to stress the importance of unity. He spoke of God’s love for all, and the need to “move forward, without fear, together.” He also spoke of our relationship to Christ, who “goes before us” and whose light “the world needs.”

“Humanity needs (Christ) as the bridge that can lead us to God and his love. Help us, one and all, to build bridges through dialogue and encounter, joining together as one people, always at peace,” Leo added.

In a June 1 homily, Leo explained that “God has always desired to draw all people to himself” and that in Christ divine life is bestowed upon us which “makes us one, uniting us with one another.”

As a priest and former prior general of the Augustinian order, Leo often quotes the great St. Augustine in many of his homilies and speeches, the saintly father of the church who so often stressed that our unity with Christ is the means to peace in the church and throughout the world.

In his “Rule,” which the former Robert Prevost lived by as a professed religious, St. Augustine urged unity, “oneness of mind and heart.”

In an interview nearly two years before his papal election, Leo reiterated this: “Unity and communion are part of the charism of the Order of St. Augustine and also of my way of acting and thinking … promoting unity and communion is fundamental.”

So with unity admittedly at the center of the pope’s own intentions, we can more clearly understand the choice of his episcopal motto — “In Illo uno unum,” which is Latin for “In the One, we are one” — drawn from one of St. Augustine’s sermons. In examining Psalm 127, St. Augustine explains, “When I speak of Christians in the plural, I understand one in the One Christ. You are therefore many, and you are one; we are many, and we are one.”

Leo’s words to date have revealed a heart which longs for unity and a desire to make fostering it a key part of his mission. In his June 1 homily, unity is ultimately a gift given by Christ. Leo is making clear through his words that we must avoid false starting points of unity — and embrace our true starting point that can be found in Christ alone.

“In a divided and troubled world, the Holy Spirit teaches us to walk together in unity,” Leo said at a June 7 celebration on the vigil of Pentecost. “The earth will rest, justice will prevail, the poor will rejoice and peace will return, once we no longer act as predators but as pilgrims. No longer each of us for ourselves, but walking alongside one another.”

Interestingly, he situates this renewed and refreshing reality in the context of synodality, a term itself regrettably polarized in recent years, making it synonymous with the less divisive communion.

“God created the world so that we might all live as one,” Leo said on June 7, adding, “‘Synodality’ is the ecclesial name for this. It demands that we each recognize our own poverty and our riches, that we feel part of a greater whole, apart from which everything withers, even the most original and unique of charisms” –- a reality written into nature,” Leo said. “All creation exists solely in the form of coexistence, sometimes dangerous, yet always interconnected.”

Let us pray that through the words and witness of Leo, our pope, Christ may continue to unite the many branches of his church anew.

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