Peace, unity and common profession of faith are the themes of the young pontificate of Leo XIV – themes which touch vitally on the Roman Church’s relations with the East

By Robert Moynihan

Pope Leo XIV poses with those attending an interreligious meeting May 19 in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican.

A time for peace, for unity, and for a common profession of a shared faith in the one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Word (Logos) of God — these are the principal themes of the young pontificate of Pope Leo XIV.

And now his task is to work to bring about these blessings — peace, unity, shared faith in Christ — in a pontificate which has begun well, but which will soon face a sea of storms.

As a student of St. Augustine, Pope Leo well understands the original dignity, the later wretchedness, and the final restored glory, of the human person, created in the image of God, subjected, in the Fall, to selfishness, sin and death, now, through the cross and the resurrection, redeemed.

We are at a moment in time, poised between a past that is receding, and a future that is arriving, a moment of present grace in which the preaching, and living out, of the Gospel will be the work and mission of this good man, who is now the successor of Peter.

Pope Francis, Pope Leo, Patriarch Bartholomew, and the trip to Nicaea

Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, 73, with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, 85, of Constantinople

At a recent gathering in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall (May 19), Pope Leo XIV, 69, addressed a group of non-Catholic Christian leaders and religious representatives.

Present were figures such as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, 85, of Constantinople, and Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, 73.

In his remarks (full text of the Pope’s address on the next pages), the Holy Father stated:

“While we are on the journey to re-establishing full communion among all Christians, we recognize that this unity can only be unity in faith.” (emphasis added)

“As Bishop of Rome, I consider one of my priorities to be that of seeking the re-establishment of full and visible communion among all those who profess the same faith in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Therefore, for Pope Leo XIV, the goal of ecumenism is not partial or ambiguous communion, but full unity — doctrinal and visible — under the authority of the Church Christ founded.

And full communion requires adherence to the unity of faith—just as it was defined 1,700 years ago at the Council of Nicaea.

The editor of the Aeterni Patris website rightly notes:

“For too long, ecumenism has too often meant dialogue without destination — an interminable conversation that would often avoid the hard truths of doctrine and authority. But Pope Leo’s words cut through this fog. Real unity doesn’t come from shared sentiment — it comes from shared faith, in full communion with the Church Christ founded. May the time of feel-good ambiguity give way to clarity, conviction, conversion, and full communion in the unity of one shared faith.”

A new beginning

Pope Francis’ meeting with the Eastern Churches in Bari took place on July 7, 2018 in the Basilica of San Nicola

One period in the life of the Church has come to an end.

A new period is beginning.

The period we have just lived through lasted from the death of Pope Francis on April 21 to the election of Pope Leo XIV on May 8.

It was the period of “sede vacante” — of the vacancy of the See of Peter.

It has now been a month since Pope Francis passed away on April 21, the day after Easter.

Few recall (though it was in the intention of Pope Francis) that, had Francis lived and been in good health, he would have traveled from Rome to Nicaea on May 25, to commemorate the 1st Ecumenical Council, which began on May 25, 325 A.D. — 1,700 years ago on the day after tomorrow.

That Council brought Church unity around the agreed definition of the consubstantiality of Jesus of Nazareth with the Almighty Creator God — that Jesus was truly the Son of God, as he himself said he was during his years of public ministry.

Pope Leo wishes to restore that unity, lost during the centuries.

And he has already taken steps toward this unity, receiving on May 19, the first morning after his inaugural Mass on May 18, the leader of the worldwide Orthodox Church, which has been divided from the Catholic Church since 1054, following a thousand years of unity.

Here below is a report on the visit to Rome of Patriarch Bartholomew, by Polish journalist Anna Artymiak, who met with Bartholomew on Monday, May 19, during his visit to the tomb of Pope Francis in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where Francis asked to be laid to rest…